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Pakistan airspace fully reopened

Modi, Imran bask after ‘good’ Kashmir crisis


March 05, 2019 00:00:00


ISLAMABAD, Mar 04 (AFP): Pakistan fully reopened its airspace on Monday, authorities said, days after it closed its skies to all air travel, leaving thousands stranded worldwide as tensions with nuclear arch-rival India soared.

The decision to close the airspace came last Wednesday after a rare aerial dogfight between India and Pakistan over the disputed territory of Kashmir ignited fears of an all-out conflict, with world powers rushing to urge restraint.

Both sides claimed to have shot each other's warplanes down, and one Indian pilot was captured. He was returned to India Friday, crossing the Wagah border on foot.

"All airports across Pakistan are operational and airspace reopened," a spokeswoman for the Civil Aviation Authority told AFP Monday, adding the process had been completed by 1:00 pm (0800 GMT).

The closure disrupted major routes between Europe and South Asia, with mounting frustration from passengers stranded at international airports.

It also delayed attempts to search for a British and an Italian climber who went missing on Nanga Parbat, Pakistan's "killer mountain" and the ninth highest peak in the world, as rescue teams were forced to wait for permission to send up a helicopter.

Meanwhile another report added, as tempers cool after an alarming confrontation between India and Pakistan, analysts say their leaders have emerged stronger-with Narendra Modi burnishing his nationalist credentials and Imran Khan cast as a peacemaker.

Some 400,000 people have signed petitions for Khan, the former playboy cricketer and prime minister since August, to get a Nobel prize, while Modi's political stock has also risen ahead of looming elections.


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