New Delhi: The Indian government cleared Pakistan’s request for use of Indian airspace to ferry humanitarian aid to cyclone-hit Sri Lanka within four hours on Monday, people familiar with the matter said, rubbishing reports from Islamabad that New Delhi refused to grant overflight.
The official request from Pakistan for overflight was submitted to the Indian side at 1 pm IST on Monday, seeking permission to fly through Indian airspace on the same day, the people said on condition of anonymity.
Since the issue pertained to humanitarian aid for Sri Lanka, the Indian government expeditiously cleared the request and informed the Pakistan government about this through official channels at 5.30 pm IST, the people said.
“The request was processed at the shortest notice period of four hours,” one of the people cited above said. “This gesture by India, despite the Pakistani side having banned the use of its airspace by Indian airlines, was done purely on humanitarian grounds.”
However, the people accused the Pakistani media of indulging in propaganda and peddling fake news by reporting that India had refused to grant overflight to Pakistani aircraft for humanitarian aid flights bound for Sri Lanka to help people affected by Cyclone Ditwah.
“These allegations are baseless and misleading. All requests for overflight or transit are processed strictly in accordance with established procedures and international norms,” the person said.
{{/usCountry}}“These allegations are baseless and misleading. All requests for overflight or transit are processed strictly in accordance with established procedures and international norms,” the person said.
{{/usCountry}}The people said India’s decisions on airspace permissions are governed by standard operational, technical and security assessments, and not political considerations. The reports in the Pakistani media are inaccurate and irresponsible, they said.
Such reports were part of fake reportage by Pakistani media and official social media accounts of Pakistani diplomatic missions, the people said. Recently, the Pakistani mission in London indulged in peddling fake news on India’s participation in the Oxford Union debate, they said.