The Hindu : Pak. for de-linking air links and over-flights

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Aug 26, 2003

International

International - India & World

Pak. for de-linking air links and over-flights

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD Aug. 25. On the eve of the arrival of Indian civil aviation technical experts for talks with their counterparts on resumption of air links, Pakistan once again made it known that it would insist on a ``mechanism'' to ensure that suspension of air links in the future does not automatically entail denial of over-flight facilities.

The Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman, Masood Khan told a news conference here that the two sides would meet on August 27 and 28 to discuss the possibility of resumption of air links and over-flight facilities suspended since January 1, 2002 in the aftermath of the December 13 Parliament attack.

The conditions imposed by Islamabad for resumption of air links are not expected to go down well with New Delhi. India has been insisting that allowing over-flight facilities is the sovereign right of every country and it could not be tagged to air links.

The only difference in the language employed by the Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman today was that unlike a few weeks ago he did not maintain that Pakistan would not be inclined to consider resumption of air links unless New Delhi was prepared to give guarantees that in future suspension of air links does not automatically entail stoppage of over-flight facilities.

Mr. Khan had argued that ``over-flights have different dimension. India since January 2002 suspended over-flights for Pakistan and we have to react''.

He said Pakistan suggested a meeting of civil aviation officials of the two countries to ``ensure that one party would not be able to withdraw the over-flight rights of the other country''.

It is four months since both the sides expressed their desire for revival of air links and yet the proposal has not moved forward. At the heart of the controversy on air links is the question of allowing over-flight facilities on a reciprocal basis.

Pakistan has deliberately registered its unhappiness over the decision of New Delhi to suspend over-flight facilities from January 1, 2002 along with snapping of air links. Secondly, in the perception of Islamabad while it is the right of any country to suspend air links, allowing over-flight facilities falls in a separate category.

``It is for the third time since the 1971 war that India has unilaterally suspended the over-flight facility. We believe that the issue of suspension of air links and over-flight facility should be linked. This is the reason Pakistan did not respond positively in June last year when India proposed restoration of over-flight facilities,'' a senior official in the Pakistan Foreign Office said.

At the briefing, the Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman dismissed a report claiming that some Pakistani soldiers were killed across the Line of Control (LoC). ``We have checked this with our military authorities, the report is baseless and incorrect,'' he claimed in response to a question.

However, he alleged that as a result of unprovoked Indian firing, six civilians, including one girl lost their lives and a school had also been damaged.

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