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Containership CMA CGM Attila recently sailed into the crosshairs of India’s security agencies, thanks to a consignment booked from China to Pakistan.
The Malta-flagged vessel was held on its way to Pakistan during a regular call at Nhava Sheva port and the cargo seized, according to sources.
While official details of the customs action remain sketchy, the issue seems to have set the stage for another geopolitical controversy as the global shipping industry battles the Red Sea crisis, precipitated by attacks by Yemen-based Houthi militants on merchant ships.
CMA CGM Attila is one of seven ships deployed on the French liner’s weekly intra-Asia loop known as the Asia-Subcontinent Express (AS1), on a port rotation of Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Shekou, Singapore, Nhava Sheva, Mundra, Port Qasim, Karachi, Singapore and Qingdao.
According to available information, the consignment allegedly contained a computer numerical control machine, which Indian investigators suspected would be used for Pakistan’s nuclear and ballistic missile programme.
Sources believe the interception was carried out under a specific intelligence alert, and Indian officials maintained that the action was in full compliance with maritime laws and regulations.
There are also reports that the consignment was not properly declared or documented.
The shipment, weighing some 22 tonnes, was consigned by Shanghai JXE Global Logistics for Pakistan Wings, a freight forwarding firm based in Sialkot. Indian agencies are said to have discovered mismatches in the shipping documentation after a closer scrutiny, with a Taiyuan Mining Import and Export Co as the shipper and Karachi-based Cosmos Engineering as the consignee.
Cosmos Engineering is reportedly on India’s ‘watch list’ for being involved in defence supplies to the Pakistan military.
According to the latest port updates, CMA CGM Attila has been released after the cargo was confiscated. Sources also noted that India’s federal Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, tasked with handling anti-smuggling operations, is to investigate the shipment.
Local CMA CGM officials remained extremely tight-lipped about the incident, while Pakistani officials, however, strongly refuted the allegations and claimed the consignment was purely commercial goods. The issue is undoubtedly rooted in the decades of strained relations between India and pakistan.
“Pakistan condemns India’s high-handedness in seizure of commercial goods,” said its Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “Such acts also highlight the growing impunity of certain states in violating international norms and taking arbitrary measures in violation of international law.”
Beijing also claimed it remained fully compliant with all international laws. China’s diplomatic mission in New Delhi tweeted:
“The embassy noted relevant reports and is verifying its authenticity. As a responsible major country, China has been strictly fulfilling its international non-proliferation obligations and commitments.”
“The embassy noted relevant reports and is verifying its authenticity. As a responsible major country, China has been strictly fulfilling its international non-proliferation obligations and commitments.”
China’s growing influence in the Indian Ocean region – in the form of port controls in Sri Lanka and Pakistan – has also been a major security concern for New Delhi.
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