Modi’s Return Flight from Poland Takes 46-Minute Journey Through Pakistan

In a surprising development, the aircraft carrying Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his return from Poland to New Delhi flew over Pakistani airspace on Saturday morning, Pakistani civil aviation authority sources said.

The flight, which entered Pakistani airspace at 10:15 AM, remained within the sovereign territory of Pakistan for about 46 minutes. The aircraft first located itself on top of Pakistani landmass over Chitral, the northern hilly area and came under the air control of Islamabad and later Lahore. The aircraft left for India, towards another neighbor of India, at 11:01 AM over Amritsar.

Civil aviation authorities in Pakistan confirmed the plane was tracked above several key areas. The fact that the airspace of Pakistan being used for an airplane carrying an Indian Prime Minister is a significant fact given the uneasy and acrimonious relationship that the two nuclear-armed South Asian close neighbors have shared with each other over the years.

This is set against the wider backdrop of geopolitical dynamics in South Asia, where airspace violations and restrictions have all too often been yet another frontline issue in Indo-Pak relations. That the aircraft actually managed to pass through without incident might reflect a moment of tacit cooperation, or at least of a nodding acquaintance with the norms of international aviation.

“TheNeedless to say, the incident of great probability will raise curiosity and interest in both the countries, where the nature of delicate diplomatic ties and history of sensitivity in the use of airspace over borders is a very common and regular event for most international flights, such an incident is of additional significance in the context of the geopolitics of South Asia.”.