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'Ridiculous statement': India slams Pakistan's airspace denial claim over aid flights to Sri Lanka
The MEA rejected the statement made by Pakistan's foreign ministry and said the request had been processed “expeditiously”.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Tuesday slammed Pakistan's claims that its request for using Indian airspace to ferry humanitarian aid to cyclone-hit Sri Lanka was denied, terming Islamabad's statement "ridiculous".
The MEA said that this is Pakistan's yet "another attempt of spreading anti-India misinformation".
While calling the claims made by the Pakistan foreign ministry “baseless”, the MEA rejected the statement and said the request had been processed “expeditiously”.
“We reject the ridiculous statement made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan which is yet another attempt of spreading anti-India misinformation,” the MEA said.
The MEA further clarified that the request for overflight clearance of the Pakistani aircraft carrying humanitarian assistance to Sri Lanka was received by the Indian High Commission in Islamabad at 1 pm on Monday (December 1).
The statement said that given the urgence of the humanitarian assistance, the Government of India “processed the request expeditiously the same day”. It added that the permission was granted “as per the itinerary proposed at 1730 hours on December 1, 2025.”
The ministry reiterated its commitment to assist the people of Sri Lanka “in these challenging times through all available means.”
This comes a day after people familiar with the matter told HT that Pakistan’s request had been cleared within four hours. “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,” they said.
They further accused the Pakistani media of indulging in propaganda and peddling fake news. “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.
The people added that India’s decisions on airspace permissions are governed by standard operational, technical and security assessments, and not political considerations.
