Pakistan extends airspace bar for India

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has extended the restrictions on its airspace for flights to and from India until June 28, reports foreign media.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) had earlier extended the airspace restrictions until June 15. Pakistan imposed the restrictions after the Indian Air Force violated Pak airspace on February 26. Since the latest round of India-Pakistan tensions, Islamabad has only opened two air routes out of 11, both passing through southern Pakistan.

A Pakistan government official told the Press Trust Trust of India that since there has been no official communication between the two countries regarding opening of their airspace, the “status quo” will prevail. “See if some development takes place at the government’s level in this respect before June 28,” he said.

Last Wednesday Pakistan granted permission to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flight to use its airspace for his official trip to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan. Earlier, Pakistan had allowed India’s former external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj to fly through its airspace to the SCO foreign ministers meeting in Bishkek on May 21.