ISLAMABAD, 1 December 2003 — Pakistan will allow Indian airlines to resume flights in its airspace, irrespective of the outcome of talks on the issue slated to begin today, the president said yesterday.
President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said Pakistan would agree to a resumption of overflights in two days of talks on restoring air links between the two countries to be held in New Delhi, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported. The two countries severed air service as well as road and railway links last year amid tension that led them to the brink of war. The last flights between the two countries were on Jan. 1, 2002.
But since India’s leader in April called for a resumption of dialogue between the two countries to resolve their differences, they have restored some bus links and on Wednesday began a cease-fire on the military line that divides the disputed region of Kashmir between them.
Musharraf expressed hope that the recent thaw in relations would culminate in the resolution of all disputes between the two countries, including Kashmir, the APP report said.
In talks held in Islamabad in August on restoring air links, India had indicated its willingness to do so, but Pakistan was reluctant.
Musharraf’s announcement came after the departure Saturday of a four-member team of Pakistani officials for the talks in the Indian capital.
In New Delhi, the Indian External Affairs Ministry offered no immediate reaction.
India banned Pakistan’s national airline from entering its airspace on Jan. 1, 2002, after accusing Pakistan’s intelligence agency of sponsoring an attack on its Parliament in December 2001 which killed 14 people and nearly pushed the two countries into their fourth war since independence from Britain in 1947.
Pakistan denied any involvement in the attack, but matched India’s moves and cut all transportation links.
