Pakistan decides to keep airspace open for India for another month

ছবিঃ সংগৃহীত

International Desk: Tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours have escalated further. Pakistan has decided to close its airspace to India for another month. This information was reported in a report by The News on Sunday.

Earlier, on April 23, 2024, in response to India's unilateral decision to close Pakistan's airspace, Pakistan also took countermeasures from April 24.

According to the decision, the ban was supposed to be in effect until May 23. However, due to no diplomatic progress, Pakistan has extended the ban again.

In February, 26 Indian tourists were killed in a terrorist attack in Kashmir's Pahalgam. India blamed Pakistan for the incident without any evidence, which Islamabad rejected as 'unreasonable' and 'baseless'.

Highly placed sources said that Pakistan was only taking action in response to the situation and a decision on extending the airspace closure would be taken after following due process. However, according to the International Civil Aviation Organization rules, no country can keep its airspace closed for more than a month at a time - so a NOTAM will be issued in a systematic manner to extend the period.

Unable to use Pakistani airspace, 200-300 Indian flights per day are forced to use alternative and expensive routes. Long-haul flights to destinations in Europe, the Middle East and North America are forced to make involuntary stops in Copenhagen, Abu Dhabi and Ahmedabad for refueling. This increases fuel costs, travel times and inconvenience to passengers.

In addition to the airspace closures, India and Pakistan have expelled each other's senior diplomats, suspended bilateral agreements and cancelled special South Asian visa schemes. Even travel to each other's territory via third countries has been stopped.

Pakistan's Information Minister Ataullah Tarar said that the airspace closure will cost Indian airlines millions of dollars.

This is not the first time - Pakistan had closed its airspace to Indian flights after the 1999 Kargil War and the 2019 Pulwama attack.