India: Pilot on Dr M’s plane advised to divert

But Pakistan denies blocking route of ‘highly esteemed guest’

PETALING JAYA: India and Pakistan have given their accounts to Wisma Putra of the “mid-air” diversion involving the aircraft carrying Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to Islamabad last week.

According to sources, the Indian High Commission explained that although the aircraft was granted clearance to fly over Indian airspace to get into Pakistan, the pilot was advised to divert to Omani territory to do so.

It said this was because of the airspace block that Pakistan had imposed on all aircraft flying into its territory from Indian airspace.

Sources said Indian officials told Wisma Putra that since Pakistan had closed its own airspace for any aircraft coming directly from India, Indian Air Traffic Control “did not want to take chances with the special aircraft”.

“Throughout the flight of the aircraft in Indian airspace, Indian civil aviation authorities were closely monitoring it and were in touch with the Malaysian High Commission.

“In case of any emergency, permission to land in India would have been promptly granted,” said a source.

The Pakistani side denied blocking the aircraft’s flight route from India, saying it was absurd to suggest that the country would do this to a guest it held in such high esteem.

An official explained that Pakistan had blocked its airspace only after an Indian airstrike in its territory, but said “it did not affect a flight carrying a VVIP”.

Throughout the flight of the aircraft in Indian airspace, Indian civil aviation authorities were closely monitoring it and were in touch with the Malaysian High Commission.

Sources

The meetings with both sides were called by Wisma Putra Undersecretary for South and Central Asia Kennedy Mayong Onon.

As a result of the diversion, the aircraft landed at the Nur Khan airbase in Islamabad on Thursday almost two hours later.

Dr Mahathir had gone to the Pakistani capital to be the special guest of the country’s Pakistan Day parade held on Saturday.

Tensions between the two nuclear powers escalated after a suicide bombing on Feb 14 killed 40 Indian Central Reserve Police Force members in Pulwana, which led to the retaliatory Indian airstrike.

Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority later announced that the airspace of the country would remain closed with exceptions made for to-and-fro operations from four international airports – Karachi, Quetta, Peshawar and Islamabad.