Modi uses Pakistan’s airspace during flight from Poland

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plane utilized Pakistan’s airspace while traveling from Poland to Delhi, ARY News reported, citing civil aviation sources.

The aircraft entered Pakistani territory at 11:00 PM and remained within the country’s borders for 46 minutes.

The plane initially crossed into Pakistan over Chitral, passing through the air control areas of Islamabad and Lahore, before exiting into Indian airspace via Amritsar at 11:46 PM.

Civil aviation sources confirmed that the route took the plane through some of the most critical air control zones in Pakistan.

The aircraft entered the Pakistani airspace at 10:15am and left at 11:01am after spending 46 minutes in the Pakistani airspace. The sources said the Indian premier’s plane entered Pakistani airspace via Chitral and passed through air control areas of Islamabad and Lahore before entering India’s Amritsar.

Modi visited the Polish capital Warsaw en route to Kyiv, to meet the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

In March 2019, Pakistan lifted all airspace restrictions for civilian flights, reopening a crucial transit air corridor over its territory. This decision came nearly five months after the airspace had been closed due to a military standoff with India. The standoff had been triggered by an attack on a security convoy in India’s illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), which resulted in the deaths of 44 paramilitary police officers.

Following this, Pakistan downgraded its diplomatic ties and suspended bilateral trade with India in response to the Modi-led government’s decision to abrogate the semi-autonomous status of IIOJK in August 2019.