Pakistan decided to reject a request from India to allow its president to use Pakistani airspace for his flight to Iceland, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi announced on Saturday.
The decision to deny the president of India, Ram Nath Kovind, the use of Pakistani airspace was approved by Prime Minister Imran Khan in view of the continued oppression of people in occupied Kashmir, the minister told the broadcaster state. Pay TV.
Qureshi said the "barbarism" of New Delhi in Kashmir was a serious problem that he would address with the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Watch: India strangles the media in occupied Kashmir, according to a report
He noted that 34 days have passed since the Indian authorities imposed a crippling curfew in occupied Kashmir before revoking the region's special autonomy.
The minister said that Pakistan has shown "moderation" in reaction to Indian movements in Kashmir, but that New Delhi refuses to give in for its stubbornness and denies basic facilities to residents of occupied Kashmir.
"In view of this, we have decided not to allow the Indian president to use our airspace" for his flight to Iceland, he said. Pay TV.
The decision comes at a time of high tension between Pakistan and India following the decision of the Indian government to unilaterally revoke article 370 of its constitution, which granted special autonomy to occupied Kashmir. A blackout of communications and strong restrictions on movement imposed by the Indian authorities since the eve of this development have been in force for more than a month.
Following India's decision to repeal article 370, Pakistan lowered diplomatic relations with New Delhi and suspended all bilateral trade. The Indian ambassador was asked to leave and the train and bus services with India were also suspended.
The government has also been considering closing all Pakistani airspace to Indian flights.
Federal Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan had said at a press conference earlier this week that the government had so far made no decision to close the eastern airspace to commercial flights from India; however, "we reserve the right to do so and it would be used at the appropriate time."
In February, Pakistan had closed its airspace to Indian traffic after the air fights after the Pulwama attack that increased tensions between Islamabad and New Delhi. He reopened his skies for all civil traffic in July, ending months of restrictions affecting the main international routes.
Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1504050/pakistan-denies-indian-presidents-request-to-use-its-airspace-for-overflight
