SCO Summit: PM Modi to fly over Karachi despite claiming not to use Pakistan airspace
PM Modi's plane will now take Pakistan airspace from Karachi, Hingol to Iran/Oman over Gwadar.
MUMBAI (Dunya News) – Despite the announcement by Indian authorities that Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi will not use Pakistan airspace for Bishkek visit, factual position is that even for the route mentioned, his plane will fly over Karachi.
According to Foreign Office (FO) sources, PM Modi’s plane will now take Pakistan airspace from Karachi, Hingol to Iran/Oman over Gwadar.
Pakistan has opened two routes since March for Indian flights. One is for traffic from India to Europe/Central Asia and second for traffic to India
The route for flights coming from India is over Arabian Sea towards Karachi, Hingol, Gwadar and beyond while for flights going to India it is over Karachi and Badin.
Earlier, Indian media claimed that Modi had decided to not use Pakistan airspace to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Bishkek despite permission from FO.
On June 8, Pakistani authorities had received a formal request sent by the Indian High Commission to allow Narendra Modi’s aircraft to fly over its airspace on June 13.
Pakistan closed its airspace in February after suicide attack on Indian troops in Pulwama district in Indian Occupied Kashmir led to aerial bombing missions on each other’s soil and a fighter dogfight over Kashmir.
Foreign carriers using Indian airspace have been forced to take costly detours because they cannot fly over Pakistan. The closure mainly affects flights from Europe to Southeast Asia.
Pakistan lies in the middle of a vital aviation corridor and the airspace restrictions impact hundreds of commercial and cargo flights each day, adding flight time for passengers and fuel costs for airlines.
