Islamabad, August 26: The Pakistani media on Sunday (August 25) was abuzz with reports that the plane carrying Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an "unexpected" 46-minute journey through Pakistani airspace while on his way back from the historic Poland visit.
A report in Pakistani Daily The Dawn also claimed that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi bypassed the tradition of communication a goodwill message while flying over Pakistan. Relations between India and Pakistan, neighbours who have fought wars over the years, are far from normal.
Goodwill Message Optional Not Compulsory
However, the report also quotes an aviation industry source saying that a message of goodwill is optional and not compulsory.
Several media reports quoted Civil Aviation Authority sources who claimed that the Indian plane entered Pakistan from Chitral. The reports further claimed that the plane flew over Pakistan's capital Islamabad and Lahore before the aircraft entered Amritsar.
PM's Aircraft Has Blanker Permission
The report also quotes the source saying that a Prime Minister's aircraft does not require a special consent to fly over a country. This is because a PM's aircraft has blanket permission.
According to the report, Pakistan closed its airspace after February 26, 2019, after India carried out surgical strikes in retaliation of the Pulwama terror attack on February 14. Though Pakistan opened its airspace partially in March, Indian flights continued to be banned.
Earlier Instance When Pakistan Had Denied Permission To PM Modi For Using Its Airspace
Earlier, Pakistan had once denied permission to allow PM Modi use the country's airspace. In September 2019, Pakistan refused the request from India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi to use its airspace for a flight to Germany.
However, two years after that, Pakistan did grant permission to PM Modi's flight to use its airspace when enroute to the US.
