RAWALPINDI, 29 August 2003 — Pakistani and Indian aviation officials ended two days of technical-level talks yesterday without an agreement on when to resume flights suspended 20 months ago.
A range of issues was discussed in a “cordial and business-like atmosphere”, a brief joint statement said after the talks in the garrison city of Rawalpindi near Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital.
“The talks provided an opportunity to the two sides to understand each other’s respective position,” and paved the way for another round of talks at a date yet to be decided.
But there was no mention of guarantees from India against future unilateral bans on overflights, which Pakistan has set as a prerequisite for restoring air links. “We did reiterate our position that air links would not be automatically restored,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan told AFP, declining to elaborate further.
The technical-level talks to lift the 20-month suspension of flights were seen as crucial in advancing a delicate four-month peace process between the nuclear rivals, who were on the verge of their fourth war last year.
India initiated the ban on flights to Pakistan and overflights by Pakistani aircraft in the wake of a deadly attack on its Parliament in December 2001. Pakistan followed suit in imposing the bans but it refused to match India’s offer in June 2002 to lift the overflight ban.
Carriers in both nations have lost significant revenue by having to fly around each other’s territory, but Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) insists the cost is greater for Indian carriers because it is India’s long-haul Europe-bound flights which have to be rerouted.
PIA only flies two east-bound flights a week, to Bangkok and Hong Kong. They are routed over China to avoid India.
The six-member Indian delegation was led by the director general of its Civil Aviation Authority, Satendra Singh, while the Pakistani team was led by senior Defense Ministry official, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ashraf Chaudhry.
Chaudhry had urged India to respect international civil aviation norms. “Pakistan favors full respect for principles and norms relating to international civil aviation and would seek an abiding commitment to ensure that these are respected,” he said in a statement issued after the opening day of talks.
An early resumption of flights was “an important step toward promoting greater people-to-people contacts” and was in the interest of both countries, he added.
The two sides, which have fought three wars since their 1947 independence, have restored full diplomatic relations and resumed cross-border bus services since Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee offered to work toward dialogue with Pakistan in April.
