Responding to the seizure of dual-use items bound from China to Pakistan by Indian authorities at Mumbai port in January, Pakistan condemned India’s “high handedness” in seizure of “commercial goods” and this “disruption of free trade underscores the dangers inherent in arbitrary assumption of policing roles by states with dubious credentials.”
“This is a simple case of import of a commercial lathe machine by a Karachi-based commercial entity which supplies parts to the automobile industry in Pakistan. Specifications of the equipment clearly indicate its purely commercial use. The transaction was being conducted through transparent banking channels with all the relevant documentation,” the spokesperson of Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement late on Saturday. “The relevant private entities are pursuing the matter against this unjustified seizure.”
Terming reports on this as reflective of Indian media’s “habitual misrepresentation of facts”, the spokesperson added, “Such acts also highlight the growing impunity of certain states in violating international norms and taking arbitrary measures in violation of international law.”
As reported by The Hindu on Saturday, two advanced Computer Numerical Control machines manufactured by GKD, Italy, bound from Shekou Port in China to Karachi port were seized by Indian customs at Mumbai Port on January 23, 2024. The consignment was shipped on January 9 on a merchant vessel CMA CGM Attila, a Malta-flagged vessel and as part of its voyage the vessel reached Nhava Sheva Port Mumbai on January 22 and was subsequently seized based on intelligence inputs on possible proliferation concerns by Pakistan and China. The consignment continues to remain in Indian custody.
