"India is answering Pakistan in the language it understands": BJP's Shahnawaz Hussain backs import ban

New Delhi [India], May 4 (ANI): As India imposed a complete ban on imports from Pakistan after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, senior BJP and the party's national spokesperson, Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, on Sunday lauded the government's decision, saying that Pakistan is being"answered in the language it understands," and must to be taught a lesson.
"No trade will be done with Pakistan, either via airways, waterways or land. India is answering Pakistan in the language that it understands. Their goods will not be allowed in, even through a third country," Hussain told ANI.
He added that India is working to globally isolate Pakistan. "We have to teach Pakistan a lesson at any cost. We are making efforts to declare Pakistan a terror state and isolate it from the world," he said.
On May 3, India imposed an immediate ban on the direct or indirect import and transit of all goods originating in or exported from Pakistan, regardless of their import status, effectively halting bilateral trade flows, according to a notification by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
The Commerce and Industry's Gazette notification issued on Saturday reads, "In exercise of power conferred by Section 3 read with Section 5 of the Foreign Trade (Development & Regulation) Act, 1992, read with Paragraph 1.02 and 2.01 of the Foreign Trade Polivy (FTP) 2023, as amended from time to time, the Central government hereby inserts a new Para 2.20A in the Foreign Trade Policy, 2023 as follows with immediate effect."
"Para 2.20A: Prohibition on Import from Pakistan. Direct or indirect Import or transit of all goods originating in or exported from Pakistan, whether or not freely importable or otherwise permitted, shall be prohibited with immediate effect, until further orders. This restriction is imposed in the interest of national security and public policy. Any exception to this prohibition shall require prior approval of the Government of India," the Commerce and Industry Ministry's notification added.
The move comes following the dastardly attack in Pahalgam on April 22 in which 26 tourists lost their lives. Following the terror attack, the Central government announced several diplomatic measures, such as closing the Integrated Check Post (ICP) at Attari, suspending the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme (SVES) for Pakistani nationals, giving them 40 hours to return to their country, and reducing the number of officers in the High Commissions on both sides. India also halted the Indus Waters Treaty signed in 1960.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also assured the country that the terrorists responsible for this attack, along with those who conspired it, will face punishment beyond their imagination. (ANI)