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Closure of airspace for India at time of our choosing: Pakistan
The FO spokesperson’s comments come a day after foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said no decision has been taken yet to close the airspace to India and any such step would be taken after looking into each and every aspect of the move through consultation.
Pakistan on Thursday said it could order the closure of its airspace for India “at a time of its choosing”, but so far no decision has been taken yet.
Foreign office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal during a media briefing on Thursday said the issue had been discussed at the highest level.
“It is one of the many options that are being considered, we can exercise it at a time of our choosing. No decision has been taken as yet,” he was quoted as saying by Dawn.
The FO spokesperson’s comments come a day after foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said no decision has been taken yet to close the airspace to India and any such step would be taken after looking into each and every aspect of the move through consultation.
Qureshi said the issue did come up for discussions during the recent Cabinet meeting but the final decision would be taken by Prime Minister Imran Khan.
He had dismissed reports suggesting that the airspace was being shut for India as “speculative”.
Science and technology minister Fawad Chaudhry on Tuesday announced on Twitter that the government was considering complete closure of airspace to India and complete ban on use of Pakistan land routes for Indian trade to Afghanistan.
In India, aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri said India was subjected to “that experience” recently and will put in place systems to deal with any challenge. He, however, said he does not want to anticipate developments in this regard.
“Every country will take its own measures...We were subjected to that experience recently and we will put in place systems and measures designed to deal with the issues and challenges,” Puri said in New Delhi.
Pakistan had fully closed its airspace in February after an Indian Air Force strike on a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror camp in Balakot. The country opened its airspace for all flights except for New Delhi, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur on March 27.
On May 15, Pakistan extended its airspace ban for flights to India till May 30. It fully opened its airspace for all civilian traffic on July 16.
In a related development, Pakistan foreign minister Qureshi held telephonic conversations with his counterparts from Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Azerbaijan to discuss the Kashmir issue with them.
Qureshi underlined that the “steps taken by India in Kashmir entailed a grave risk for peace and security in the region”, the Foreign Office said. ( With Agency inputs)
