New Delhi | Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today after the CCS meeting on Pulwama attack on CRPF convoy announced that India has withdrawn the ‘Most Favoured Nations’ status granted to Pakistan.
Addressing reporters after the meeting, Jaitley said, The ‘most favoured nation’ status which was granted to Pakistan, stands withdrawn and MEA will initiate all possible diplomatic steps which are to be taken to ensure the complete isolation from the international community of Pakistan of which incontrovertible is available of having a direct hand in this act.”
Arun Jaitley: MEA will initiate all possible diplomatic steps which are to be taken to ensure the complete isolation from the international community of Pakistan of which incontrovertible is available of having a direct hand in this act. pic.twitter.com/HmXou32NbE
— ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019
Jaitley further warned that the people who are responsible and have supported this act of terrorism will have to pay a heavy price for it. Prime Minister Narendra Modi today held a meeting of the cabinet committee on security at 7 Lok Kalyan Marg regarding the terrorist attack on the CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, NSA Ajit Doval, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj were present at the meeting.
India granted the MFN status to Pakistan way back in in 1996, but the neighbouring country has not yet reciprocated. The MFN status was accorded under WTO’s General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Both India and Pakistan are signatories to this; and are members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which means they have to treat each other and the other WTO member countries as favoured trading partners in terms of imposing customs duties on goods. Removal of this status means India can now enhance customs duties to any level on goods coming from Pakistan, a trade expert said.
At least 44 CRPF personnel were killed in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Thursday when a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist identified as Adil Ahmed rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the bus they were travelling in. More than 2,500 Central Reserve Police Force personnel, many of them returning from leave to rejoin duty in the Valley, were travelling in the convoy of 78 vehicles when they were ambushed on the Srinagar-Jammu highway at Latoomode in Awantipora.
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