Pak considering complete closure of airspace to India, says Technology Minister Fawad Hussain

Pakistan is considering a complete closure of airspace to India, Technology Minister Fawad Hussain Choudhry said on Tuesday, adding that the federal Cabinet is also planning to ban its neighbour from using its territory for trade with Afghanistan.

"PM is considering a complete closure of Air Space to India, a complete ban on the use of Pakistan Land routes for Indian trade to Afghanistan was also suggested in Cabinet meeting, legal formalities for these decisions are under consideration...!" the minister said in a tweet.

Choudhry captioned his post saying, "#Modi has started we ll finish."

The move came a day after Prime Minister Modi met US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G7 summit in the southwestern French city of Biarritz. The two leaders agreed that Kashmir is an internal matter of India and that New Delhi and Islamabad can resolve their issues bilaterally.

Shortly after Modi-Trump meeting, Khan in a televised address to Pakistan said that his country will go to any extent for Kashmir and asserted that Islamabad wouldn't be afraid of using its nuclear powers for Kashmir.

However, this is not the first time that Islamabad has banned New Delhi from using its airspace.

Normal flight operations of Air India (AI) resumed over the Pakistani airspace last month more than four months after the Balakot airstrikes took place on February 26.

Pakistan has been rattled by the Indian government's move to strip the special status accorded to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 and has found itself completely isolated despite desperate attempts to internationalise the issue.

Islamabad has been snubbed on all fronts as the international community has made it clear that the Kashmir issue is strictly New Delhi's internal matter.

The Pakistan government has downgraded bilateral ties with India in the wake of the decision and said it will consider all steps to counter what it described "illegal steps" taken by New Delhi.