As Kashmir crisis continues to exacerbate South Asia tensions, Prime Minister Imran Khan is considering a “complete closure” of Pakistani airspace to India
The proposal for a complete ban on the use of Pakistan’s land routes for Indian trade to Afghanistan also came up during the cabinet meeting, according to Federal Minister Fawad Chaudhry.
South Asia has been on the edge since August 5, when Indian ultra-nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi revoked autonomous status for Indian-administered Kashmir, deeply upsetting Islamabad and millions of people of Jammu and Kashmiri descent in Pakistan.
The move has been criticized within India and internationally as a colonial method to changed demography of the only Muslim-majority area under Indian control. The situation becomes even darker for Kashmiris as ruling BJP party has support of RSS and Bajrang Dal,, widely condemned as terrorist outfits perpetrating Hindutva ideology and militant violence on Indian diverse and minority communities.
Pakistan had last closed its airspace for India after Indian fighter jets violated the airspace on February 26 in the wake of Pulwama attacks. New Delhi called the intrusion into Pakistani airspace a targeted attack against a suspected militant camp in northwest Pakistan. Islamabad denied the claim.
That intrusion escalated into a dogfight along Line of Control in the disputed Kashmir region 0n February 27. Pakistani jets downed an Indian plane and arrested its pilot Indian wing commander Abhinandan Varthaman. The wing commander was released after a few days as a gesture of peace.
In July, Pakistan reopened its airspace for Indian flights but by that time Indian airlines paid a heavy price in terms of millions of dollars as they had to take much longer routes around Pakistan.
Prime Minister Imran Khan has called Indian move to revoke Kashmir’s special status as a “historical blunder.”
He has also raised the specter of a nuclear exchange between the two neighbors and appealed to the world powers to help resolve the standoff.
“No country will win this (conflict),” he added.
Meanwhile, a strict lockdown in Kashmir has entered its fourth week with thousands of arrests and suspension of basic human rights and communication links.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly offered to media on the Kashmir crisis but after a meeting with Modi in France suggested this week that Islamabad and New Delhi were capable of resolving the contentious Kashmir dispute on their own.
The UN says Kashmir remains a dispute on its agenda but a UNSC consultative meeting this month failed to condemn New Delhi’s blatant move in violation of human rights charters and UN resolutions.
