NEW DELHI, 17 April 2005 — The special Pakistan International Airlines plane that brought President Pervez Musharraf to India yesterday proudly displayed the Indian flag — upside down.
The aircraft nose sported Pakistan’s flag on one side and the Indian tricolor on the other, which has three bands starting with orange on top, white and then green.
But on Musharraf’s plane, the Indian flag had the green band on top and orange below, sparking off demands for an apology by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of former Premier Atal Behari Vajpayee.
“It appears to have been done inadvertently. Even then it is a serious lapse,” said BJP spokesperson V.K. Malhotra while responding to the lapse.
Alarmed pilot Wasimul Islam said, “It was a human error and the moment we realized it, we corrected it. India’s flag will always fly high and its honor will remain intact.”
The Indian flag was flying upright after Musharraf and his entourage disembarked and headed for Ajmer by an Indian Air Force helicopter.
