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No breakthrough in Indo-Pak talks on airlinks
Islamabad Aug 28: The two-day technical level talks between India and Pakistan for lifting a 20-month suspension of flights ended inconclusively as the officials on both sides failed to reach an agreement on the issue of restoration of over flights.
Islamabad Aug 28: The two-day technical level talks between India and Pakistan for lifting a 20-month suspension of flights ended inconclusively as the officials on both sides failed to reach an agreement on the issue of restoration of over flights.
Though Indian officials were tight-lipped about the outcome of the talks, the dialogue ended without an agreement as Pakistan insisted on India giving an "abiding commitment" in the form of guarantees that India will not ban over flights.
A brief joint statement issued at the end of the talks today at Rawalpindi said that the discussions helped the two sides to understand "each other`s respective positions" and paved the way for a next round of talks to be announced after "mutual consultation".
"A range of issues were discussed in detail" under a "cordial and business-like atmosphere", the statement said.
The five-member Indian delegation led by Director General of Civil Aviation Authority Satinder Singh would leave for home later today.
The issue of over flights appeared to be a thorny one as Pakistan delegation in its opening remarks yesterday insisted it would seek an "abiding commitment" from India not to ban over flights in future. "Pakistan favours full respect for principles and norms relating to international civil aviation and would seek an abiding commitment to ensure that these are respected," the Pakistan statement issued yesterday said.
The over flights were banned along with direct flights between the two countries by India in January, 2002 after the terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament.
As a result of the ban on over flights both the countries were forced to divert their flights over flying each other skies through different routes resulting in heavy losses to their respective airlines.
Besides the over flights, the two sides discussed technical issues involved in restoring the direct flights between Lahore-Delhi and Karachi-Mumbai.
Besides Sathinder Singh, other members of the team include A V Chaturvedi from Ministry of Civil Aviation, Shirin Lalwani of Air Idnia, Sunil Kishen from Indian Airlines and Kharbanda of the Airports Authority.
The Pakistani side is led by Maj Gen Mohammad Ashraf Chaudhry, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Defence. Bureau Report
Though Indian officials were tight-lipped about the outcome of the talks, the dialogue ended without an agreement as Pakistan insisted on India giving an "abiding commitment" in the form of guarantees that India will not ban over flights.
A brief joint statement issued at the end of the talks today at Rawalpindi said that the discussions helped the two sides to understand "each other`s respective positions" and paved the way for a next round of talks to be announced after "mutual consultation".
"A range of issues were discussed in detail" under a "cordial and business-like atmosphere", the statement said.
The five-member Indian delegation led by Director General of Civil Aviation Authority Satinder Singh would leave for home later today.
The issue of over flights appeared to be a thorny one as Pakistan delegation in its opening remarks yesterday insisted it would seek an "abiding commitment" from India not to ban over flights in future. "Pakistan favours full respect for principles and norms relating to international civil aviation and would seek an abiding commitment to ensure that these are respected," the Pakistan statement issued yesterday said.
The over flights were banned along with direct flights between the two countries by India in January, 2002 after the terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament.
As a result of the ban on over flights both the countries were forced to divert their flights over flying each other skies through different routes resulting in heavy losses to their respective airlines.
Besides the over flights, the two sides discussed technical issues involved in restoring the direct flights between Lahore-Delhi and Karachi-Mumbai.
Besides Sathinder Singh, other members of the team include A V Chaturvedi from Ministry of Civil Aviation, Shirin Lalwani of Air Idnia, Sunil Kishen from Indian Airlines and Kharbanda of the Airports Authority.
The Pakistani side is led by Maj Gen Mohammad Ashraf Chaudhry, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Defence. Bureau Report