Pakistan has formally suspended its trade relations with India, in retaliation against New Delhi’s decision to revoke Article 370 that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, according to media reports.

On Friday, the federal cabinet headed by Prime Minister Imran Khan endorsed the decisions taken by the National Security Committee and the joint session of parliament, which include suspension of trade ties with India, reports Dawn news.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information Firdous Ashiq Awan, replying to a question at a media briefing, said that Pakistan had also suspended the import of Indian goods under the Pakistan-Afghanistan transit treaty.

Two different notifications were issued soon after the cabinet meeting to implement the decision to suspend bilateral trade with India with immediate effect and until further orders.

As per notification SRO928 of 2019, all kind of exports to India have been suspended by amending the Export Policy Order 2016.

Through the other notification – SRO927 – by amending the Import Policy Order 2016, the government has banned import of goods of Indian origin or those imported from it. Earlier, this ban was only limited to imports from Israel.

Islamabad had on Wednesday decided to downgrade diplomatic relations with India over the Kashmir move. It expelled Indian High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria and suspended trade with India.

The decision was taken at a meeting of National Security Committee (NSC) – the second within a week – presided over by Prime Minister Imran Khan to review the situation following the Indian government’s move on Kashmir.

As per the Pakistan National Security Council decision, the government has decided to downgrade diplomatic relations with India, suspend bilateral trade with New Delhi, review bilateral arrangements, take up Kashmir matter with the UN and observe August 14 in solidarity with brave Kashmiris.

Following the unilateral decisions taken by the Pakistani government in respect to its bilateral relations with India, India said it regrets the move by Islamabad and urged the neighbouring nation to “review the steps taken so that normal channels for diplomatic communications are preserved”.

The Ministry of External Affairs in a statement on Thursday made it clear that the recent developments pertaining to Article 370 were “entirely the internal affair of India”.

“The Constitution of India was, is and will always be a sovereign matter. Seeking to interfere in that jurisdiction by invoking an alarmist vision of the region will never succeed,” it firmly stated.

India further said that it was time for Pakistan to “accept the reality” and “stop interfering in the internal affairs of other countries”.

In February, Pakistan did not reciprocate to the New Delhi decision to withdraw the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to Islamabad in the backdrop of the Pulwama attack. India had granted the MFN status to Pakistan in 1995. The term means the country which is the recipient of this treatment must receive equal trade advantages by the country granting such treatment.

India also hiked tariff on imports from Pakistan by 200 per cent.

The restrictions imposed by India in the backdrop of the February 14 Pulwama attack in which 40 CRPF troopers were killed in a suicide bombing claimed by the Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad, have affected the flow of bilateral trade.

The value of bilateral trade in February was $164 million, which fell to the level of $105 million in June.