Importing From India to Pakistan

In May 2025 Pakistani customs started holding shipments of Indian medicines. Within days the Ministry of Commerce issued a memo so there'd be "no ambiguity regarding pharmaceutical trade with India" (The News, 7 May 2025 (opens in a new tab)). So medicines could keep coming. Almost nothing else could, and that's still the position today.

Why is this page so short? Because there isn't much to import. Pakistan and India are both SAFTA members, so a preference exists on paper (the rules are on the SAFTA bloc page), but the border is shut to ordinary trade and we won't dress up an import route that doesn't exist.

Last researched 28 September 2026 · Next review 24 November 2026 · Written by SourcingFrom

The decision in brief is in the playbook: Exporting and trade → /india/#trade.

Trade Suspended on Both Sides

On 24 April 2025, two days after the Pahalgam attack, Pakistan's National Security Committee suspended "all trade with India including to and from any third country through Pakistan" (Prime Minister's Office, Pakistan, 24 April 2025 (opens in a new tab)). On 2 May India banned the direct or indirect import and transit of all goods originating in or exported from Pakistan (DGFT Notification 06/2025-26, as reported by The Tribune (opens in a new tab)). Both orders run "until further orders".

We found nothing lifting either of them as of 28 September 2026.

Look closely at the words "third country" - they shut the obvious back door. Routing Indian goods through Dubai or Colombo does not get around Pakistan's suspension, and anyone offering to relabel the origin is selling you origin fraud, which customs on both sides are actively hunting for. Our advice is plain. Walk away.

The Exemption for Medicines

Therapeutic goods regulated by Pakistan's Drug Regulatory Authority (DRAP) are exempt, under SRO 977(I)/2019. That covers active pharmaceutical ingredients, vaccines, anti-cancer drugs, biologicals and finished medicines (The News, 7 May 2025 (opens in a new tab)). That exemption is most of what still moves, and it isn't small change. Pakistan recorded US$36.6 million of imports from India in July to September 2025, "largely pharma APIs", according to a Karachi analyst (Arab News, 12 November 2025 (opens in a new tab)).

If you're a Pakistani pharma importer then you already know this route and its DRAP paperwork better than we do.

What we couldn't confirm is whether a SAFTA preference is granted on those shipments, so ask your broker before you price it in.

Next Step

Watch this space for any change to either order. Meanwhile, every agreement India does have in force is on India's trade agreements.