India-Pakistan conflict claims an unlikely victim: Himalayan pink salt

For the past 3 decades, Vipan Kumar has been importing Himalayan pinkish brackish from Pakistan to merchantability successful India.

The 50-year-old trader who is based successful Amritsar successful Punjab, the spiritual hub of Sikhs successful India, told Al Jazeera that the caller broad prohibition connected commercialized betwixt the 2 countries pursuing the massacre of 26 people, mostly Indian tourists, astatine Pahalgam successful Indian-administered Kashmir successful April has brought that commercialized to a screeching halt aft New Delhi banned imports of each Pakistani goods, including those routed done 3rd countries.

Kumar says helium typically sold 2,000 to 2,500 tonnes of pinkish brackish a quarter. “The nett borderline is precise thin, but inactive the concern is feasible due to the fact that of the bulk sales. But the prohibition has wholly halted the pinkish brackish business. We don’t cognize erstwhile the concern would crook normal,” helium told Al Jazeera.

The Himalayan Pink Salt has a pinkish tint owed to a hint of minerals, including iron, and is utilized successful cooking, decorative lamps and spa treatments. Hindus besides similar to usage this brackish during their spiritual fasts arsenic it is simply a non-marine salt.

Mined successful Pakistan

The Himalayan pinkish brackish is mined astatine the Khewra Salt Mine successful the Punjab state of Pakistan, the 2nd largest brackish excavation successful the satellite aft Sifto Salt Mine successful Ontario, Canada, and located astir 250 kilometres (155 miles) from the metropolis of Lahore, which besides astatine times lends its sanction to the pinkish brackish – Lahori namak, which is Hindi for salt.

The brackish excavation contains astir 82 cardinal metric tonnes of salt, and 0.36 cardinal metric tonnes is extracted each year. About 70 percent of the brackish is utilized for concern purposes, and the remainder for edible use.

“The excavation is precise scenic and attracts respective 1000 tourists each year,” Fahad Ali, a writer who lives adjacent to the mine, told Al Jazeera.

It has astir 30 brackish processing units wherever the immense stone brackish boulders are hand-mined and loaded connected trucks earlier being dispatched, helium said.

The brackish is exported successful a earthy signifier to India, wherever importers process, grind and battalion it for sale.

Prices swell

India mostly depends connected Pakistan for this pinkish salt.

But aft the Pahalgam massacre, India announced an extremity to each commercialized with Pakistan, which reciprocated the ban. The halt successful commercialized was 1 of a bid of diplomatic and economical tit-for-tat measures the neighbours took against each different earlier engaging successful an aggravated four-day speech of missiles and drones that took them to the cusp of a full-fledged war. On May 10, they stepped backmost from the brink, agreeing to a truce. However, the commercialized prohibition remains successful place.

Salt traders successful India told Al Jazeera that the existent intermission successful imports has started to hamper their concern arsenic prices are starting to rise.

“It has been hardly implicit a period since the announcement of the ban, and prices person already gone up,” said Gurveen Singh, an Amritsar-based trader, who blamed traders with existing stocks for selling them astatine higher prices.

“The brackish which was sold successful the retail marketplace for 45 rupees to 50 rupees per kilogramme [$0.53-$0.58] earlier the prohibition is present being sold for astatine slightest 60 rupees per kilogramme [$0.70],” Singh said.

In immoderate places, the terms is adjacent higher. In Kolkata this week, pinkish brackish was being sold successful markets for betwixt 70 rupees and 80 rupees per kilogramme [$0.82-$0.93].

“We person nary thought erstwhile the concern would instrumentality to normal. There would beryllium implicit situation erstwhile the stocks get exhausted,” helium said.

The rates, however, spell up adjacent much connected the different broadside of India successful the eastbound owed to the proscription outgo incurred to nonstop the brackish from Amritsar.

Traders successful Kolkata told Al Jazeera that the prices of the brackish person gone up by 15-20 percent successful the city, but that has not hampered request arsenic yet.

“The Himalayan stone brackish remains successful immense request crossed the year, particularly during festivals erstwhile radical stay connected accelerated and similar the pinkish brackish implicit the marine brackish that is produced successful India,” said Sanjay Agarwal, a manager successful a backstage steadfast that deals successful pinkish salt.

Dinobondhu Mukherjee, a brackish trader successful Kolkata, said that the authorities should look for an alternate state to procure this salt. “The relations betwixt the 2 countries are usually strained, and that affects the trade. Our authorities should look for alternate countries to procure the brackish truthful that the proviso concatenation is ne'er disrupted,” Mukherjee told Al Jazeera.

Pakistani exporters, however, said that the Indian prohibition would person a “positive impact” connected their trade. Indian traders, they said, marque their brackish arsenic their ain to merchantability successful the planetary marketplace astatine higher prices.

“The caller prohibition would assistance america to grow further arsenic it would hitch disconnected the contention from India,” Faizan Panjwani, main operating serviceman of Karachi-based RM Salt, told Al Jazeera.

“Undoubtedly, India is simply a large marketplace and has a batch of potential, but we privation to nonstop the brackish by doing worth summation and not successful earthy form. Our brackish is already successful immense request globally,” helium said.

Trade decline

Trade betwixt the 2 countries has been decreasing since the 2019 onslaught connected information forces successful Pulwama successful Indian-administered Kashmir successful which 40 information unit were killed. In response, India revoked the non-discriminatory marketplace presumption – amended known arsenic Most Favoured Nation (MFN) presumption – that it had granted to Pakistan. It besides imposed dense tariffs of 200 percent connected imports from Pakistan.

According to India’s Ministry of Commerce, the country’s exports to Pakistan from April 2024 to January 2025 stood astatine $447.7m, portion Pakistan’s exports to India during the aforesaid play were a paltry $420,000.

In 2024, India imported astir 642 metric tonnes of pinkish salt, which was acold little than the 74,457 metric tonnes imported successful 2018 – mostly arsenic a effect of the precocious tariffs.

Prior to the latest ban, India’s large exports to Pakistan included cotton, integrated chemicals, spices, nutrient products, pharmaceuticals, integrative articles, and dairy products. India usually imports copper articles, earthy cotton, fruits, salt, minerals and immoderate speciality chemicals from Pakistan.

“The implementation of the dense work had raised the import terms of the brackish from 3.50 rupees [$0.041] per kilogramme to 24.50 rupees [$0.29] per kilogramme successful 2019, adjacent though the brackish was being routed from the 3rd state similar Dubai,” trader Kumar told Al Jazeera.

“Still, it had not impacted our concern arsenic the request was excessively high, and buyers were acceptable to wage the price. But the government, this time, has besides prohibited the introduction of Pakistani goods from immoderate 3rd country, which has brought the proviso to a implicit standstill,” helium said.

One antithetic manufacture that is being wounded by the prohibition – lamps made from the Himalayan pinkish stone brackish that are utilized arsenic decorative lights and adjacent tout unproven claims of being aerial purifiers.

“We person to look for an alternate state if the proviso of stone brackish doesn’t travel from Pakistan,” said Global Aroma laminitis Deep, who uses a azygous name. “The prices of the lamps had already accrued aft the imposition of a 200 percent tariff successful 2019, and the procurement from immoderate different state volition pb to further escalation of cost.”