Pakistan, China outcry over India’s seizure of dual-use items aboard vessel

Pakistan condemned what it called India’s 'high-handedness' and the 'unjustified seizure' of 'commercial goods'. China too subtly criticized India’s move to seize the dual-use items that could have been used in the nuclear weapon and ballistic missile programme of Pakistan.

New Delhi: Islamabad and Beijing on Sunday sharply reacted to the seizure by the customs officials of India of a consignment of dual-use items being shipped from China to Pakistan.

Pakistan condemned what it called India’s “high-handedness” and the “unjustified seizure” of “commercial goods”. China too subtly criticized India’s move to seize the dual-use items that could have been used in the nuclear weapon and ballistic missile programme if Pakistan. The communist country stressed that it had been strictly fulfilling its international non-proliferation obligations and commitments.

India’s customs officials, acting on intelligence inputs, seized the consignment from Malta-flagged merchant ship -- CMA CGM Attila – after the vessel reached the Nava Sheva Port of Mumbai on January 22. The ship sailed from Shekou Port in China on January 9 and was heading to Karachi Port of Pakistan.

The consignment, which was seized, had two Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machines, manufactured by a company based in Italy. The CNC machines are known for precision and efficiency and could be used not only for civilian purposes but also for military purposes, including in projects to make nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. The restrictions on the international transfer of CNC machines were put in place by the Wassenaar Arrangement, a global export control regime that curbs the spread of items with dual civilian and military applications. India is a member of the Wassenaar Arrangement, but China is not.

North Korea had in the past used CNC machines to continue its nuclear programme, despite international sanctions against it.

“This is a simple case of import of a commercial lathe machine by a Karachi-based commercial entity, which supplies parts to the automobile industry in Pakistan,” Mumtaz Baloch, a spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the government of the neighbouring country, said in Islamabad on Sunday. “Specifications of the equipment clearly indicate its purely commercial use. The transaction was being conducted through transparent banking channels with all the relevant documentation.”

Baloch condemned New Delhi’s high-handedness in the seizure of commercial goods. This disruption of free trade underscores the dangers inherent in the arbitrary assumption of policing roles by states with dubious credentials. Such acts also highlight the growing impunity of certain states in violating international norms and taking arbitrary measures in violation of international law. She said that the relevant private entities are pursuing the matter against this “unjustified seizure”.

“As a responsible major country, China has been strictly fulfilling its international non-proliferation obligations and commitments,” Wang Xiaojian, the spokesperson of Beijing’s diplomatic mission in New Delhi, posted on X on Sunday.

He referred to the March 2020 seizure of China’s ship "Da Cui Yun" in India for transporting so-called "dual-use materials”. “We have learned that the materials (seized in March 2020) is by no means a piece of military equipment or a dual-use item covered by China's non-proliferation export control regime,” he posted on X, adding: “Sceptical reports or irresponsible hinting are not constructive.”