 "Wing Commander Vyomika Singh addresses a press conference on Friday. ANI")
India on Friday accused Pakistan of endangering civilian lives by failing to close its civil airspace during an unprovoked and unsuccessful drone and missile attack against multiple Indian cities on Thursday night.
During a press briefing on Friday, Wing Commander Vyomika Singh said that Pakistan’s refusal to suspend civilian flight operations, even as it launched a cross-border attack, posed a serious threat to both domestic and international air traffic near the India-Pakistan International Border (IB).
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“…Pakistan did not close its civil airspace despite it launching a failed unprovoked drone and missile attack on 7 May at 08:30 hours in the evening. Pakistan is using civil airliner as a shield, knowing fully well that its attack on India would elicit a swift air defence response. This is not safe for the unsuspecting civil airliners including the international flights which were flying near IB between India and Pakistan,” she added.
Referencing data from the live tracking application flight radar 24, screenshot of which was displayed by Colonel Sofiya Qureshi during the briefing, showed the disparity in air traffic between the two sides.
“The screenshot we just showed, it shows the data of the application flight radar 24 during a high air defence alert situation in the Punjab sector. As you have seen, the airspace on the Indian side is absolutely devoid of civil air traffic due to our declared closure. However, there are civil airlines flying the air route between Karachi and Lahore…,” added Wing Commander Singh.
She further said that the Indian Air Force exercised significant restraint in its response, prioritising the safety of international civil carriers despite heightened alert levels in the Punjab sector.
With inputs from agencies