Government denies use of airspace to India’s prime minister

Requests by Indian president and PM were also turned down last month

Indian Prime Minister wanted to use our airspace but we denied permission in the perspective of black day being observed by Kashmiris today to condemn Indian occupation and ongoing grave human rights violations in Indian-occupied Kashmir.” Shah Mahmoud Qureshi | Pakistan foreign minister

akistan on Saturday said it denied India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi permission to fly through its airspace due to “ongoing grave human rights violations” in Indian-administered Kashmir.

The decision came with tensions simmering between the two nuclear-armed arch rivals over Kashmir.

It is the third time in recent weeks that Islamabad has refused to allow Indian leaders to use its airspace.

Requests by Indian President Ram Nath Kovind and Modi were turned down last month.

“Indian Prime Minister wanted to use our airspace but we denied permission in the perspective of black day being observed by Kashmiris today to condemn Indian occupation and ongoing grave human rights violations in Indian-occupied Kashmir,” foreign minister Shah Mahmoud Qureshi said in a statement.

He said the Indian high commissioner (ambassador) was being informed about the decision.

Destination

Qureshi did not disclose Modi’s destination but a senior Pakistani official told AFP the Indian prime minister had sought permission to use Pakistan’s airspace to travel to Saudi Arabia, where he is due to attend an investment summit.

Pakistan had closed its airspace to Indian traffic in February after a suicide bomb attack that killed dozens of Indian troops in Kashmir, ratcheted up tensions between the two neighbours and prompted aerial dogfights. It reopened its skies for all civilian traffic in July, ending months of restrictions that had affected major international routes.