Islama­bad had cleare­d India's premie­r flight to Bishke­k in Kyrgyz­stan to attend SCO summit, say source­sNEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will avoid flying over Pakistan during an official trip to central Asia on Thursday. Pakistan closed its airspace in February after the February 14 suicide attack in occupied Kashmir, leaving two Indian fighter jets’ downed. Commercial and cargo airlines using Indian airspace have been forced to take costly and time-consuming detours because they cannot fly over Pakistan. But Pakistan had cleared Modi’s flight to Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit beginning on Thursday, Indian and Pakistan sources said. “The Government of India had explored two options for the route to be taken by the VVIP Aircraft to Bishkek.

Source: The Express Tribune June 12, 2019 14:15 UTC