Pakistan says India blocked flight carrying aid to Sri Lanka
Pakistan said its aid flight was stalled for 60 hours after India withheld full overflight clearance
Aamir Abbasi
Editor, Islamabad
Aamir; a journalist with 15 years of experience, working in Newspaper, TV and Digital Media. Worked in Field, covered Big Legal Constitutional and Political Events in Pakistan since 2009 with Pakistan’s Top Media Organizations. Graduate of Quaid I Azam University Islamabad.
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An aerial view shows homes partly submerged in floodwaters in Sri Lanka’s Kotmale region on Dec. 2, 2025.
AFP
Pakistan on Tuesday accused India of obstructing its efforts to deliver emergency relief to Sri Lanka, where more than 400 people have died in flooding and landslides triggered by Cyclone Ditwah.
In a statement on X, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said a special aircraft carrying humanitarian supplies had been unable to depart for more than 60 hours because New Delhi had not granted the required overflight permission.
It said a limited clearance issued late Monday was “operationally unworkable,” noting that it was valid only for a short window and did not include approval for the return leg.
India continues to block humanitarian assistance from Pakistan to Sri Lanka. The special aircraft carrying Pakistan’s humanitarian assistance to Sri Lanka continues to face delay for over 60 hours now awaiting flight clearance from India.
The partial flight clearance issued by…
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Pakistan (@ForeignOfficePk) December 2, 2025
Why Pakistan’s aid mission became disputed
Air travel between the two neighbors has been restricted for months. Both countries shut their airspace to each other after tensions spiked in April following a deadly attack in Pahalgam, in Indian-administered Kashmir, that killed 26 people and set off a brief four-day military flare-up.
Pakistan later extended its ban on Indian overflights until Nov. 24.
Sri Lanka is reeling from a week of torrential rains that has left at least 405 people dead and 336 missing, authorities said. Nearly 1.2 million people have been affected nationwide as rescue teams search for bodies in areas buried by landslides.
India’s response
Indian media, however, rejected Islamabad’s allegations. NDTV cited officials as saying the claim that India had blocked the flight was “baseless and misleading.”
According to the report, Pakistan submitted its overflight request early Monday afternoon seeking same-day approval, which India cleared within about four hours.
Officials told NDTV the authorization was conveyed to Islamabad at 5:30 p.m. local time on Monday and was fast-tracked because it involved humanitarian assistance for Sri Lanka.
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