India quickly approved the use of its airspace for a Pakistani aid flight carrying cyclone relief supplies to Sri Lanka. This comes after some Pakistani media reports wrongly claimed that India had refused permission for Pakistan to use its airspace. India officially rejected those claims as “baseless and misleading,” according to an ANI report.
Officials said Pakistan submitted the request around 1 pm on Monday, asking for same-day approval to fly over Indian airspace. Since the flight was meant for humanitarian help to Sri Lanka, India processed the request very quickly and gave approval by 5:30 pm the same day.
It also pointed out that this approval was given even though Pakistan continues to block Indian airlines from using its airspace.
Cyclone Ditwah crisis in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is facing severe flooding after Cyclone Ditwah. At least 334 people have died and 370 are still missing. Kandy has suffered the most damage, with 88 reported deaths and 150 people still missing.
Other severely affected districts include Badulla, where 71 people have died, Nuwara Eliya with 68 deaths and Matale with 23 deaths. Many more injuries and heavy losses have also been reported across the affected regions.
India sends large relief support to Sri Lanka
India has already sent 53 tons of relief supplies under Operation Sagar Bandhu. This includes 9.5 tons of emergency food from Indian Navy ships in Colombo, and 31.5 tons of medical supplies, tents, blankets, food packets and equipment carried by Indian Air Force aircraft. Along with the material, India has also sent medical teams and NDRF rescue teams to help on the ground, ANI reported citing an official release.
Another 12 tons of relief materials have been sent on the Indian Navy Ship Sukanya to Trincomalee, taking the total assistance to 53 tons.
Additionally, the Indian Air Force has rescued more than 300 Indian citizens stranded in Sri Lanka and brought them safely to Thiruvananthapuram. According to a PTI report, the same aircraft that were earlier used to send relief material and NDRF teams – including the IL-76 and C-130J – were used for this evacuation mission.
