Pak snubbed: PM not to use its airspace for SCO

NEW DELHI: In a clear snub to Islamabad, New Delhi on Wednesday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modis special plane will bypass pakistan's airspace en route to Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan where he is going on Thursday to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit.
External Affairs Ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar said the VVIP aircraft will fly via Oman, Iran and the Central Asian countries on way to Bishkek.
"Government of India had explored two options for the route to be taken by the VVIP aircraft to Bishkek for the SCO Summit. A decision has now been taken that the VVIP aircraft will fly via Oman, Iran and Central Asian countries on the way to Bishkek," he said.
The decision is a clear snub to Pakistan, which on Monday had reportedly said that it had decided "in principle" to allow the Indian Prime Minister's plane to fly over its airspace for the flight to Bishkek.
The Prime Minister is travelling to Bishkek on Thursday morning to attend the annual SCO Summit and flying via Pakistan would have provided a shorter route.
If Modi would have flown over Pakistan it would have taken three-and-a-half hours to reach Bishkek and now it will take about seven hours for the journey, officials said.
The decision also came over a week after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi wrote separate letters to their Indian counterparts, pushing for restarting bilateral talks.
Khan had also made a telephone call to Modi on May 26 and expressed his desire to work together for the betterment of people of the two countries.
On his part, Modi said creating trust and an environment free of violence and terrorism was essential for fostering peace and prosperity in the region.
India has not been engaging with Pakistan since an attack on the Air Force base at Pathankot in January of 2016 by a Pakistan-based terror group, maintaining that talks and terror cannot go together.
Khan is also travelling to Bishkek to attend the SCO summit and there was speculation that he and Modi may hold a meeting on the sidelines of the multilateral forum.
However, on Monday, the MEA spokesperson said no such meeting has been arranged between the two leaders.
Modi will have bilateral talks with other leaders of the eight-nation SCO grouping, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
At the Summit, Modi is expected to highlight the dangers posed to the world by state-sponsored terrorism, a clear reference to Pakistan.
Last month, Pakistan had given special permission to the then external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj to fly through Pakistani airspace while travelling to Bishkek to attend a meeting of SCO Foreign Ministers.
Pakistan fully closed its airspace on February 26 after the Indian Air Force struck a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist training camp in Balakot.
Since then, it has only opened two routes, both of them pass through southern Pakistan, of the total 11.
On its part, the IAF announced on May 31 that all temporary restrictions imposed on Indian airspace post the Balakot airstrike have been removed.

Comment on this Story