Pakistan lost $40 billion since India trade suspension, business council chief says
Crowds at the Wagah-Attari border, the crossing through which Pakistan-India trade once flowed (file photo: Wikimedia Commons / Schüler1000, June 2019).
Lahore: Pakistan has suffered an estimated $40 billion in economic losses since trade with India was suspended in 2019. The figure comes from Noor Muhammad Qasuri, chairman of the Pak-India Business Council, who said in a statement on Monday that it was time for the two neighbours to restore commercial ties.
Trade stopped after the Pulwama attack and the escalation that followed, and it has stayed stopped ever since. Qasuri’s argument is a practical one, not a political one: with the direct route closed, Pakistani businesses have had to buy essential raw materials and other goods from distant markets, pushing up freight costs and stretching delivery times.
Where the money went
Pharmaceuticals took one of the hardest hits. Pakistan’s drug manufacturers relied on raw materials available in India, Qasuri said, and resuming those imports could save the sector between $2 billion and $3 billion a year. Textiles tell a similar story. As domestic cotton production declined, mills turned to suppliers in Brazil, Egypt, China and the United States, adding roughly $5 billion to their costs.
The list does not stop there. Sugar, fertiliser, cement, petroleum products, iron and steel, vegetables and heavy machinery have all had to come from further afield, even though India has substantial production capacity in each of them. Qasuri pointed out that Indian oil refineries are geographically closer to Pakistan, which would make petroleum imports cheaper and faster if the route reopened.
What reopening would bring
For the business council chief, restoring trade is straightforward arithmetic. It would cut transport costs, ensure timely supplies, and open up opportunities for investment, tourism and wider regional cooperation on both sides of the border. He cited India’s financial assistance to Sri Lanka during its economic crisis as an example of what regional cooperation can look like in practice.
Seven years on, Qasuri’s message is that the suspension is no longer just a diplomatic position — it is a bill that Pakistani industry keeps paying, month after month.
