Pakistan initiates 'emergency' steps to secure drug supplies after trade suspension with India
Islamabad, Apr 26 (PTI): Pakistani health authorities have initiated "emergency preparedness" measures to secure pharmaceutical supplies in response to the suspension of trade ties with India, according to a media report on Saturday.
In response to the India's decision to suspend the Indus Water Treaty following the Pahalgam attack, Islamabad on Thursday suspended all trade with New Delhi among other moves.
Geo News reported that India trade halt triggered "urgent measures to secure" pharmaceutical needs in Pakistan and health authorities have initiated "emergency preparedness" measures to secure the supplies.
The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has confirmed that while there has been no formal notification regarding the ban's impact on the pharmaceutical sector, contingency plans are already in place, it said.
"Following the 2019 crisis, we had started preparing for such contingencies. We are now actively looking at alternative avenues to meet our pharmaceutical needs," the report quoted a senior DRAP official as saying.
Currently, Pakistan relies on India for 30% to 40% of its pharmaceutical raw materials, including Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) and various advanced therapeutic products.
With this supply chain distributed, DRAP is seeking alternative sources from China, Russia, and several European countries.
The agency aims to ensure the continuous availability of essential medical supplies, including anti-rabies vaccines, anti-snake venom, cancer therapies, monoclonal antibodies, and other critical biological products.
While DRAP's preparedness offers some reassurance, industry insiders and health experts have warned of a looming challenge if immediate action is not taken to manage the fallout of the trade suspension.
"Pakistan imports some 30%–40% of its pharmaceutical raw material from India. We also import finished products, most importantly, anti-cancer therapies, biological products, vaccines, and sera, especially anti-rabies vaccine and anti-snake venom from India," a senior official from the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination said, requesting anonymity.
The Ministry of Health has yet to receive an official directive clarifying the status of pharmaceutical imports, despite the government's blanket announcement suspending all trade with India.
The pharmaceutical sector fears that disruption in the supply chain could lead to critical shortages.
The situation is further complicated by the existence of a robust black market, where unregistered and unapproved medicines are smuggled into Pakistan through Afghanistan, Iran, Dubai, and even across the eastern border, the report said.
While these channels fill gaps left by legal imports, they offer no guarantee of quality or consistent supply.
A delegation of pharmaceutical industry leaders travelled to Islamabad on Thursday to appeal for an exemption from the trade ban.
"We had meetings with DRAP and Ministry of Commerce officials to discuss the suspension of trade ties. We urged them to exempt the pharmaceutical sector from the ban, as there are many life-saving products whose raw materials come exclusively from India," said Tauqeer-ul-Haq, Chairman of the Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA).
The PPMA delegation also approached the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), arguing that pharmaceutical and health-related trade must be excluded from the ban to protect patients' lives.
However, some experts see the current crisis as a wake-up call for long-term investment in local production of APIs, vaccines, and biologicals.
"This crisis could be a turning point for Pakistan," said Zafar Iqbal, a senior public health expert.
Terrorists opened fire in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam on Tuesday, killing 26 people, mostly tourists, in the deadliest attack in the Valley since the Pulwama strike in 2019. The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy of the banned Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), claimed responsibility for the attack.
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Trump launches new effort to reopen Strait of Hormuz
Dubai (AP): US forces on Monday launched an effort to guide commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz, where hundreds have been stuck since the Iran war began.
Two American-flagged merchant ships have “successfully transited” through the critical waterway, the US military said. Separately, the US military denied Iran's claims that it struck an American Navy vessel southeast of the strait.
Iran handed over its latest proposal for negotiations with the US to mediators in Pakistan, Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported Friday. Trump subsequently said he's “not satisfied” with it, but did not elaborate on the proposal's apparent shortcomings. The shaky ceasefire between the US and Iran has lasted for three weeks.
Here's the latest:
European leaders see Trump's troop drawdown from Germany as new proof they must go it alone
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European leaders on Monday said President Trump's snap decision to pull thousands of US troops out of Germany came as a surprise but is a fresh sign that Europe must take care of its own security.
The Pentagon announced last week that it would pull some 5,000 troops out of Germany, but Trump told reporters Saturday that “we're going to cut way down. And we're cutting a lot further than 5,000.”
He offered no reason for the move, which blindsided NATO, but his decision came amid an escalating dispute with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the US-Israeli war on Iran, and Trump's anger over European allies' reluctance to get involved in the conflict in the Middle East.
Wall Street hesitates and oil prices climb with uncertainty about the Strait of Hormuz
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The US stock market is holding tentatively near its record heights Monday, while oil prices climb with uncertainty about when oil tankers can resume crossing the Strait of Hormuz and restore the world's flow of crude. Dueling claims about a possible Iranian strike on a U.S. Navy vessel in the strait heightened the tensions.
The S&P 500 slipped 0.1 per cent, coming off its latest all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 216 points, or 0.4 per cent, as of 9:35 am Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was up 0.1 per cent.
The action was stronger in the oil market, where the price for a barrel of Brent crude climbed 2 per cent to USD 110.37 and briefly topped USD 114 during the morning. Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz due to its war with the United States has kept oil tankers pent up in the Persian Gulf and away from customers worldwide. That in turn has sent the price of Brent soaring from roughly USD 70 per barrel before the war.
Iran stands firm on its grip of the strait
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The disruption of the waterway has squeezed countries in Europe and Asia that depend on Persian Gulf oil and gas, raising prices far beyond the region.
Trump has promised to bring down gas prices as he faces midterm elections this year.
The US has warned shipping companies they could face sanctions for paying Iran for transit of the strait. It has enacted a naval blockade on Iranian ports since April 13, telling 49 commercial ships to turn back, U.S. Central Command said Sunday. The blockade has deprived Tehran of oil revenue it needs to shore up its ailing economy.
US officials have expressed hope the blockade forces Iran back to the negotiation table.
US claims progress in reopening the Strait of Hormuz, saying two merchant ships have transited
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The US military said Monday that two American-flagged merchant ships had successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz and Navy guided-missile destroyers in the Persian Gulf were helping to restore shipping traffic. It separately denied Iran's claims to have struck an American Navy vessel.
The announcement came a day after US President Donald Trump announced a new initiative to help guide ships through the critical waterway for global energy. Iran has effectively closed the strait since the US and Israel started the war Feb 28, rattling the global economy.
The US-led Joint Maritime Information Center has advised ships to cross the strait in Oman's waters, saying it set up an “enhanced security area.” U.S. Central Command didn't say when the Navy ships arrived or when the merchant vessels departed.
It was unclear whether shipping companies, and their insurers, will feel comfortable taking the risk given that Iran has fired on ships in the waterway and vowed to keep doing so.
