Pakistan meddles by blocking 5 Indian flights to Afghanistan

KNOWLEDGE SIR

Pakistan for the fifth time in a month blocked Indian's flights to Afghanistan. The Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) on five instances in December and January refused clearance for Indian cargo flights to fly through Pakistani airspace to the Afghanistan capital. The Indian Embassy in Pakistan has formally raised the issue with the Pakistan government.

PCAA denied permission to cargo flights of Indian carrier SpiceJet thrice in the last week of December and on January 11 and 14. This is a violation of global civil aviation norms and direct meddling in the India-Afghanistan Air Corridor that the two countries opened in June 2017.

The Ministry of External Affairs raised the matter with the Pakistani government through a note verbale, which is considered a formal, third-person letter from one country to another raising a request or conveying formal information.

Pakistan has for decades blocked land access between India and Afghanistan. Even with the establishment of the air corridor between the two countries despite its opposition, Pakistan only allowed the transport of exports from Afghanistan to India while blocking cargo headed the other way.

Pakistan's strategic doctrine considers Afghanistan its backyard and Islamabad is deeply resentful of Indian cooperation or even mere presence in Afghanistan. Kabul on the other hand has repeatedly requested access to India through Pakistani territory in a bid to step up exports and bolster its battered economy.

India on the other hand has expanded its activities in the region, especially in the area of connectivity. The Chabahar Port on Iran's southern Makran Coast has seen significant investment and development from India, and was the portal for multiple shipments of wheat from India to Afghanistan starting in October 2017. 

New Delhi sees Chabahar as a key point in its connectivity not just with Iran and Afghanistan but with all of Central Asia. India, Iran and Afghanistan have also signed agreements to jointly develop a rail corridor between Chabahar, Zaranj, Delaram and Hajigak, which could then theoretically be used to link to the landlocked Central Asian countries.

• Chabahar Port
 
• China Pakistan Economic Corridor
 
• Gwadar Port
• Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority
 
• PCAA
 
• CPEC
 
• India Pakistan relations
• India Afghanistan flights
 
• Delhi Kabul flights
 
• India Afghanistan air corridor
• India Afghanistan flight corridor
 
• India Afghanistan relations
 
• Pakistan Afghanistan relations
• India Iran relations
 
• regional connectivity projects