ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said it denied India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi permission to fly through its airspace due to “ongoing grave human rights violations” in Indian occupied Kashmir. It is the third time in recent weeks that Islamabad has refused to allow Indian leaders to use its airspace. Requests by Indian President Ram Nath Kovind and Modi were turned down last month. Qureshi did not disclose Modi’s destination but a senior Pakistani official told AFP the Indian prime minister had sought permission to use Pakistan’s airspace to travel to Saudi Arabia, where he is due to attend an investment summit. Pakistan had closed its airspace to Indian traffic in February after a suicide bomb attack that killed dozens of Indian troops in Kashmir, ratcheted up tensions between the two neighbours and prompted aerial dogfights.

Source: Pakistan Today October 27, 2019 09:22 UTC