Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will avoid flying over Pakistan during an official trip to central Asia on Thursday.
Pakistan closed its airspace after the February 14 suicide attack in occupied Kashmir, leaving two Indian fighter jets’ downed. Islamabad also captured one of the Indian pilots but later released him to defuse the impending crisis.
Commercial and cargo airlines using Indian airspace have been forced to take costly and time-consuming detours because they cannot fly over Pakistan. But Pakistan on Wednesday cleared Modi’s flight to Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit beginning on Thursday.
The Indian foreign ministry said the government considered the routes for Modi’s travel and decided he would take the longer passage to Central Asia instead of the direct route over Pakistan.
The move follows calls in local media that Modi shouldn’t be securing an exception for himself while thousands of ordinary travelers are enduring the longer travel because of the tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals. “The Government of India had explored two options for the route to be taken by the VVIP Aircraft to Bishkek. A decision has now been taken that the VVIP Aircraft will fly via Oman, Iran and Central Asian countries on the way to Bishkek,” the Indian foreign ministry said.
Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan in a statement earlier in the day said an application to seek opening of the airspace was received by Aviation Division from Indian High Commission on Monday. He said Prime Minister Imran Khan after holding consultation with all the stakeholders directed to open the airspace.
The airspace will be opened for a period of 72 hours during which Air India plane B747-400 can fly to Bishkek from New Delhi on Thursday and return the next day.
Modi’s move also suggests there is little chance of a thaw in ties even though Pakistan said it hoped to revive talks after elections in India ended in May. Prime Minister Imran Khan will also be attending the SCO meeting, but Indian officials said there are no plans for a bilateral meeting between him and Modi.
