The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has turned down India’s complaint against Pakistan’s denial of permission to Narendra Modi to cross its airspace for an overseas tour, media reports said on Tuesday.
In response to India’s complaint, the ICAO stated that flights carrying national leaders are considered ‘state aircraft’ and are not subject to its provisions. “The Convention on International Civil Aviation (Chicago Convention), which ICAO helps governments to cooperate under, only applies to the operations of civilian aircraft and not to state or military aircraft,” the ICAO spokesperson said. “Flights carrying national leaders are considered state aircraft, and are therefore not subject to ICAO provisions.”
Earlier, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said Modi is being blocked because of his government’s repression in the Muslim-majority territory of Kashmir. In a statement, Qureshi said the decision has been made ‘in context of Black Day and in view of the continued gross human rights violations in occupied Jammu and Kashmir’. He said the Indian high commissioner was informed of the decision in a written form. “India has consistently carried out grave atrocities and inflicted tremendous pain and misery upon innocent Kashmiris who have been landlocked and cut-off from the outside world for more than 80 days since India’s unilateral annexation of a disputed territory,” he said. “We will not allow Modi to use Pakistan’s airspace,” he asserted.
Modi, who flew to Saudi Arabia on Monday for an investors’ summit, took a circuitous route because of Pakistan’s refusal, an Indian foreign ministry source said.
Islamabad previously refused a request in September from Modi to cross its airspace on a flight to Germany.
The 1944 Convention on International Civil Aviation, which established ICAO and promotes cooperation between countries, only applies to the operations of civilian aircraft, and not to state or military aircraft.
