Pakistan denies airspace to Indian PM amid Kashmir buildup

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan government announced on Wednesday that it had denied a request for use of its airspace for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to fly over Pakistani skies for a flight to Germany.
The request had been submitted by the Indian government last week, following six weeks of heightened tensions between Pakistan and India, following New Delhi’s move on Aug. 5 to abrogate the partial autonomy of Kashmir, a region both countries own in part but claim in full.
In a video message, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the decision had been made “keeping in view the situation in occupied Kashmir,” and called it a “violation of rights in the region.”
Earlier this month, Pakistan denied the use of its airspace to Indian President Ram Nath Kovind for his flight to Iceland, citing similar reasons.
Keeping in line with international law, such requests are usually granted.
In February this year, Pakistan closed its airspace to Indian traffic following a dogfight in the skies over Kashmir that brought the two nuclear-armed South Asian countries to the brink of war. It reopened its skies for all civilian traffic in July, ending months of restrictions that had affected major international routes and thousands of travelers.