Pak refuses India's request to open airspace for PM Modi citing 'situation in Kashmir'

Pakistan on Wednesday rejected India's request to allow Prime Minister Narendra Modi's VVIP flight to use its airspace for his upcoming visit to the US via Germany, citing "the current situation in Kashmir".

"India had requested Pakistan to allow Modi to use its airspace to travel to Germany on the 21st (Sept) and return on 28th (Sept)," Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said.

Announcing the decision via a video statement, Qureshi said the Indian High Commissioner in Islamabad had been informed of Pakistan's decision to not allow prime minister's Modi's special Air India One aircraft to fly over the country.

"In the light of the current situation in Kashmir, India's attitude and atrocities there, we have decided to not allow our airspace for the flight of the Indian prime minister," he said.

Prime Minister Modi is travelling to the US on September 21 to attend the 'Howdy Modi' diaspora event on September 22 along with US President Donald Trump. He will also address the UN General Assembly in New York on September 27.

Meanwhile, India hit out at Pakistan for denying overflight clearance to Prime Minister Modi's VVIP plane, saying Islamabad should reflect upon its decision to deviate from well established international practice and reconsider its "old habit" of misrepresenting the reasons for taking unilateral action.

Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar in New Delhi said: "We regret the decision of the government of Pakistan to deny overflight clearance for the VVIP special flight for a second time in two weeks, which is otherwise granted routinely by any normal country."