Pakistan will not open airspace until India withdraws fighter jets from forward airbases: Official
Islamabad, Jul 12: Pakistan has told India that it will not open its airspace for commercial flights until the IAF fighter jets are removed from forward airbases, a top aviation official has informed a parliamentary committee, as Islamabad on Friday for the fifth time extended the airspace ban along its eastern border with India till July 26.
Pakistan fully closed its airspace on February 26 after the Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter jets struck a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist training camp in Balakot following the Pulwama terror attack in Kashmir.
Pakistan's Aviation Secretary Shahrukh Nusrat, who is also the Director General of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), on Thursday informed the Senate Standing Committee on Aviation that his department has intimated Indian officials that Pakistani airspace would remain unavailable for use by India until the country withdraws its fighter jets from forward positions, Dawn News reported.
"The Indian government approached asking us to open the airspace. We conveyed our concerns that first India must withdraw its fighter planes placed forward," Nusrat told the committee.
This is probably the first time a senior Pakistani official has publicly stated Islamabad's precondition for reopening its airspace after the Balakot air strikes.
He further apprised the committee that Indian officials have contacted Pakistan requesting it to lift the airspace restrictions.
"However, Indian officials have been told that Indian airbases are still laden with fighter jets and Pakistan will not allow resumption of flight operations from India until their removal," said Nusrat.
Meanwhile, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said in a notice that the Pakistani airspace will be closed until July 26 along its eastern border with India.
"The Panjgoor airspace will remain open for overflying transit flights from the western side as Air India had already been using that airspace," the notice said.
A CAA official told PTI that the Pakistan government will review whether to open its space for Indian flights or not on July 26.
"However, this issue is a bilateral one and no progress will be made till both Islamabad and New Delhi decide it mutually," he said.
Last month, for the fourth time, the CAA had extended the airspace ban till July 12.
After the restrictions, all the passenger flights are being diverted to alternative routes by India, The Express Tribune reported.
The CAA official also contested India's claim that Delhi had opened its airspace for Pakistan, the report said.
"Pakistani flights from Thailand have not been restored since the closure of the Indian airspace. Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flights for Malaysia also remain suspended," the CAA DG informed the committee.
Last month, Pakistan gave special permission to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's VVIP flight to use its airspace for his official trip to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan.
However Prime Minister Modi's VVIP aircraft avoided flying over Pakistan. Earlier, Pakistan had allowed India's former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to fly directly though Pakistani airspace to participate in the meeting of SCO foreign ministers in Bishkek on May 21.
India aviation industry has suffered huge losses due to the airspace ban by Pakistan.
On Thursday, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri told Parliament that due to the closure of Pakistan airspace, Air India had to spend an extra Rs 430 crore on longer routes.
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Karnataka Lokayukta to register case, probe Bowring wall collapse
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Lokayukta Justice B S Patil on Thursday took serious note of the compound wall collapse at Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital in the city that killed seven people, and announced registration of a case on its own while warning of action against officials found responsible.
The Lokayukta, who visited the site and conducted an inspection, expressed strong displeasure over the incident and questioned the inaction of authorities, even as police and emergency teams had earlier rushed to the spot to rescue victims trapped under the debris following heavy rain, strong winds and a hailstorm on Wednesday evening.
“I will now register a suo motu case. This is not just about this one incident — such incidents must not occur anywhere in the state or the city in the future,” Justice Patil told reporters.
Seven people, including a six-year-old girl, were killed and seven others injured when the compound wall collapsed as rain-battered victims had taken shelter near it, according to police. The victims included people from Kerala who were in the city on a study tour.
Calling for systemic accountability, the Lokayukta said, “Dilapidated buildings and weakened compound walls, especially in areas with public access, must first be identified. They must either be repaired, demolished, or rebuilt.”
He added that responsibility would be fixed on officials of the BBMP and the concerned departments.
Justice Patil said that hearings would be conducted and preventive action initiated, while also probing those responsible for it, how the incident could have been prevented, and why it was not prevented.
A Scene of Crime Officers (SOCO) team and a Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) team also inspected the site, while police cordoned off Kovil Street to facilitate the probe.
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said the government had initiated measures following the rain-related incidents and stressed preparedness.
“Since last night we have initiated measures regarding the rains. When it rains heavily, we must be prepared, and we are working towards that,” he told reporters here.
On the wall collapse, Shivakumar said, “I will not directly blame any officials. It was an old wall, and trees had grown alongside it. Due to that pressure, it collapsed.”
The Deputy CM said instructions had been issued to identify such vulnerable structures and clear areas around them, including relocating street vendors.
Karnataka Medical Education Minister Sharan Prakash Patil said a technical assessment had been ordered.
“This is a very serious matter. Innocent people have been affected. We are issuing directions to the engineers to find out why this compound wall collapsed and to assess its structural strength,” he told reporters after inspecting the spot.
The Minister noted that the wall was ‘very old’ and required thorough examination to prevent recurrence.
Speaking to reporters, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge asked the Karnataka government to take precautions to ensure that incidents like the collapse of the Bengaluru government hospital compound wall, which caused loss of life, should not repeat.
Meanwhile, addressing a press conference, Shivajinagar MLA Rizwan Arshad said the collapse raised questions about construction and maintenance practices.
“If a wall collapses within 25 years of its construction, it needs to be examined -- whether there was any technical issue, or if anything was altered inside, weakening it. All this can only come out through a technical investigation,” he said.
The Congress MLA also called for wider structural audits across the city, stating that all such structures, whether private or government, must be audited.
He urged citizens to support victims, saying it was a collective responsibility in times of crisis.
