India suspends exchange of all inbound mail, parcel services from Pakistan through air and surface routes

The central government decided to suspend exchanges of all categories of inbound mail and parcels from Pakistan through air and surface routes, a notice issued by the Ministry of Communications said on Saturday.

The decision comes in the wake of the deadly terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam district that killed 26 civilians on April 22.

The government has taken a slew of measures against Pakistan, including halting the Indus Waters Treaty, cancelling all special visas issued to Pakistani nationals, shutting its airspace for Pakistani airlines, and also shutting the Attari-Wagah border in Amritsar.

On April 23, just a day after the Pahalgam terror attack, the government also declared Pakistan's top military attaches in India as persona non grata, directing them to leave the country. India also withdrew its own military attaches from Pakistan and reduced the number of staff at its High Commission in Islamabad.

India bans direct, indirect imports from Pakistan

India has banned direct or indirect import of all goods from Pakistan with immediate effect in the interest of national security and public policy, according to a government order.

The decision will completely halt all inbound shipments of goods from Pakistan to India. India's exports to Pakistan in April-January 2024-25 stood at $447.65 million, while imports were meagre $0.42 million, a PTI report said.

A Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) notification, dated May 2, said that a provision in this regard has been added in Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2023 “to prohibit direct or indirect import or transit of all goods originating in or exported from Pakistan with immediate effect until further orders.”

It added this restriction is imposed in the interest of national security and public policy. Any exception to this prohibition will require approval of Government of India, the order said.

Pakistani ships banned from entering Indian port

The Centre on Saturday banned all ships bearing the flag of Pakistan from entering any Indian port amid escalating tensions between the two countries after the horrifying Pahalgam terror attack on April 22.

In a notification dated May 3, the Union Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways also said an Indian ship will also not visit any Pakistani port.

This comes hours after India banned all imports from Pakistan.

“A ship bearing the flag of Pakistan shall not be allowed to visit any Indian Port,” said the order.

Pakistani hackers target Indian websites

The decision to suspend mail exchange from Islamabad comes a day after Pakistan-based hacking groups, such as "Cyber Group HOAX1337" and "National Cyber Crew", targetted the websites of Army Public School in Nagrota and Sunjuwan. The hackers attempted to deface them with messages mocking the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack.

A website catering to ex-servicemen's healthcare services was defaced.

India's layered cybersecurity architecture detected the intrusions in real-time and quickly traced their origin to Pakistan, an ANI report said.

Earlier on April 29, Pakistan redirected its efforts towards publicly accessible welfare and educational websites after finding mission-critical national networks impenetrable. Operating under the moniker "IOK Hacker" - Internet of Khilafah, the group sought to deface pages, disrupt online services and harvest personal information, the report added.

(With inputs from agencies)