India withdraws ‘Most Favoured Nation’ status from Pakistan

India has withdrawn the ' Most Favored Nation' (MFN) status given to Pakistan in trade services in 1996 after the Pulwama terrorist attack on the CRPF thet claimed the lives of 40 jawans.

After the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS )meeting headed by PM Narendra Modi  today on the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir, Finance Miniter Arun Jaitley said that all the measures will be taken to ensure the security of the nation and the perpetrators will have to face the fury now.

The MFN status was accorded Under WTO's General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) to which both India and Pakistan are signatories and are members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Both the countries 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.

Speaking to media persons outside the Prime Minister's residence, Arun Jaitely said that the CCS took the cognizance of the incident and expressed its deepest condolences to the aggrieved families.

An all out effort to ensure the complete isolation of Pakistan will be launched by the Ministry of External Affairs for having a direct hand in this heinous terrorist attack, Jaitley added.