Open airspace for PM’s flight to Bishkek, India tells Pak

NEW DELHI: The Indian government has requested Pakistan to open its airspace for PM Narendra Modi’s flight to Kyrgyzstan next week where he will attend the SCO summit along with Pakistan PM Imran Khan, sources here confirmed.
A large part of Pakistan’s airspace has remained shut since India’s Balakot air strikes which followed the Pulwama attack by Jaish-e-Muhammed.
India expects Pakistan to allow Air India One to use its airspace just as Islamabad granted permission last month for then foreign minister Sushma Swaraj’s flight to Bishkek where she attended an SCO meet.
While neither side has proposed a dialogue between Modi and Khan, official sources have ruled out the possibility of a quick pull aside at the event. India has already said there is no formal or structured meeting planned between the two. Modi is scheduled to fly to Bishkek on June 13.
“Pakistani airspace on its eastern border with India will be closed until June 14, a civil aviation official said on May 29,” said a Pakistan media report, adding that the Indian mission in Islamabad had sought clearance for Modi’s flight.