On the 29th of October, Anthony Philbin, the Chief of Communications of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO,) said they acknowledged India’s letter and forwarded the same to Pakistan.
Mr. Philbin said the ICAO Council President sought information from Pakistan about its refusal to let Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flight to Saudi Arabia access the Country’s airspace.
Initially, ICAO rejected the complaint of the Government of India (GoI) against Pakistan for refusing flight clearance. On the 28th of October, ICAO responded to the complaint of the Indian Government about Prime Minister Modi’s flight not being allowed to use Pakistan’s airspace.
The Spokesperson of the ICAO said VIP flights of national leaders are ‘state aircrafts,’ which are outside the purview of ICAO’s provisions.
The ICAO Spokesperson said, “The Convention on International Civil Aviation (Chicago Convention,) which ICAO helps governments to cooperate under, only applies to the operations of civilian aircraft and not to state or military aircraft. Flights carrying national leaders are considered state aircraft and are therefore not subject to ICAO provisions.”
On the 27th of October, Mahmood Qureshi, the Foreign Minister of Pakistan, turned down the Indian Government’s request to allow PM Modi’s flight to Saudi Arabia use Pakistan’s airspace.
Post this, India requested ICAO, a specialised United Nations (UN) agency, to intervene in the matter.
As of now, ICAO requested the Pakistan Government to provide information about not giving overflying clearance to India.
Stay tuned for further updates.
