How are Pakistan’s imports from India growing again despite tensions?

Formally, the countries are not trading at all. But Pakistan’s imports from India are back to pre-war levels. And some analysts spot signs of a thaw. Islamabad, Pakistan – In the spring of 2025, Pakistan and India severed most of their remaining links after years of acrimony.

Gunmen had killed 26 people in Pahalgam in India-administered Kashmir that April. New Delhi blamed Pakistan for the attack – Islamabad denied any role – and put the Indus Waters Treaty, governing the sharing of rivers flowing into Pakistan, in abeyance. Pakistan retaliated by closing its airspace to Indian airlines, shutting the Wagah border crossing and suspending trade. By May, the nuclear-armed neighbours were exchanging missile and drone strikes.

Four days of fighting ended in a ceasefire on May 10, for which United States President Donald Trump claimed credit. Pakistan imported goods worth $61.7m from India from July to September this year, up 69 percent from the same period a year earlier, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).