Pakistan airspace to remain closed indefinitely to both domestic, international flights amid tensions with India

Islamabad: All international and domestic flights operations across Pakistan stand suspended on Thursday, said the country’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). Quoting Pakistan’s aviation agency, ARY News also reported that the flight operations would remain shut until further notice. “NOTAM is still in place and airspace over #Pakistan remains closed. Apology for an earlier tweet that indicated the partial opening of our airspace for commercial aviation. Any further information will be shared accordingly,” the CAA tweeted early on Thursday. [caption id=“attachment_3014460” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File Image of Pakistan International Airlines passenger plane. Reuters[/caption] Airlines like Qatar Airways issued a statement on Wednesday wherein it asserted that due to the ongoing situation on the India-Pakistan border, its flights to the airports in Faisalabad, Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Multan, Peshawar and, Sialkot stand temporarily suspended. On Wednesday, flight operations across eight airports in India — Amritsar, Pathankot, Srinagar, Jammu, Shimla, Dharamshala, Kullu and Leh — were shut briefly. Operations later resumed at all the airports. Meanwhile, Air Canada has temporarily suspended its flight services to India, after Pakistan’s decision to shut its airspace. These measures come in the wake of an Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman being captured by the Pakistani Army on Wednesday when the Pakistan Air Force violated the Indian airspace. Fighter jets from the Indian Air Force repulsed the morning raid launched by Pakistani F-16 fighter jets which prevented damage on Indian troop positions or infrastructure. India has since sought the immediate and safe return of the personnel, strongly underlining that “no harm comes to the Indian defence personnel in its custody.” On Tuesday, India launched an anti-terror strike against a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror training camp in Pakistan’s Balakot, in which a large number of terrorists have been killed by the Indian Air Force, according to Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale. The air strike was carried out in the aftermath of the February 14 terrorist attack on a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district, which claimed the lives of over 40 CRPF personnel. Pakistan-based JeM staked responsibility for the attacks, which have been widely condemned by the international community. There has been mounting global pressure against Pakistan to stop providing support and a safe haven to terrorists ever since.