Pak Steady in Refusal of Overflight Permissions to Leaders, India Complains to UN Aviation Body

Pakistan allows its airspace to be used for outgoing and incoming Indian traffic, but has denied permission to leaders’ flights.

New Delhi: India has complained to the International Civil Aviation Organization over Pakistan repeatedly refusing to grant overflight clearances for Indian leaders who need to fly through Pakistani airspace.

On Sunday, Radio Pakistan reported on Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi announcement on the country’s decision to not accede to India’s request that Prime Minister Narendra Modi be allowed to fly through Pakistani airspace to Saudi Arabia.

He reportedly added that the decision was taken on the occasion of ‘black day’— Sunday was labelled as such by Pakistan in solidarity with Kashmir. Pakistan had downgraded relations with India after the autonomous status of Jammu and Kashmir was withdrawn and the state was bifurcated into two Centre-administered Union Territories.

According to Indian sources, Pakistan’s decision to “yet again” deny overflight clearance for a “VVIP special flight” was regrettable, especially since it is “granted routinely by any normal country”.

The senior government official noted that overflight clearances are sought and granted by by other countries as per prescribed ICAO guidelines. He also made it clear that India will continue to seek such overflight clearances from Pakistan in the future.

Also read: Pakistan’s Airspace Closure Has Cost Indian Airlines Rs 549 Crore: Centre

“Separately, we have taken up the matter of such denial with the relevant international civil aviation body,” said the Indian official, referring to the UN’s civil aviation agency, ICAO.

“Pakistan should reflect upon its decision to deviate from well-established international practice, as well as reconsider its old habit of misrepresenting the reasons for taking unilateral action,” he added.

This is indeed not the first time that Pakistan has denied India permission. It had earlier refused to permit Modi’s special flight to travel through its airspace when he was travelling to New York, via Frankfurt in September. Earlier that month, President Ram Nath Kovind had to take a detour to avoid Pakistani airspace for the same reason, for his trip to Iceland.

Pakistan had closed its airspace for over four months this year to aircraft travelling to and from India after New Delhi had launched airstrikes inside its territory in retaliation to the deaths of at least 40 security personnel in Pulwama. Currently, Pakistan allows its airspace to be used for outgoing and incoming Indian traffic, but does not give permission to special flights by Indian leaders travelling to foreign destinations.

The Pakistan government has had to face a lot of flak within its borders after it allowed Modi to travel through its airspace to France for the G-7 summit in August.