Thawing relations: Omar Abdullah pleads for overflight facilities
Indian Kashmir CM says encouraging voices emerging from PM Nawaz about normalising ties.
Indian Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. PHOTO: AFP/ FILE
SRINAGAR:
Indian Kashmir’s Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said on Saturday that he hoped the new government in Islamabad would allow international flights originating from Srinagar to fly over Pakistani airspace.
Speaking at a conference on ‘Cooperation, Development, Peace and Security in Central Asia’ at Kashmir University, Abdullah said if Pakistan allowed the use of its airspace for international flights originating from Srinagar, the Srinagar airport could become an international airport in the true sense.
“Unfortunately, because of the ... mindset of our neighbour on the western frontier that does not allow a direct flight from Srinagar to overfly their airspace, we have not been able to take advantage of this connect that was available to us,” a news agency quoted the chief minister as saying.
“One hopes with a new dispensation in Pakistan, with encouraging voices emerging from the new Prime Minister of Pakistan [Nawaz Sharif] about normalising the relations to some extent between our two countries, perhaps this [use of airspace] is one aspect that can also be normalised,” Abdullah stated.
He added that the flying distance between Srinagar and some of the capitals of Central Asian states was shorter than the distance between it and some big Indian cities.
“The international airport at Srinagar that currently exists only on paper [will] become an international airport in operations as well. And one day, the direct flights to one of these Central Asian states [will] originate from Srinagar,” he added.
Abdullah said Indian Kashmir was uniquely placed in the Indian set up to talk about linkages with Central Asia and to, possibly in future, derive advantages from those linkages.
“The policy of the ministry of external affairs of ‘Connect Central Asia’ will be ideally suited for J&K (Indian Kashmir) because geographically we are the closest, spiritually we have a connect and almost every aspect of life in Kashmir, were you to scratch the surface, you will find a connection between us and Central Asia.”
“Our heritage, language, culture, our architecture and the biggest connect is in our religion. Therefore, it is but natural that there will be an affinity between us and Central Asian States,” he added.
Abdullah rued the fact that the neighbourhood of the state “has not allowed us to take advantage of the historic association that Kashmir has with Central Asia”.
The disadvantage for India, he said, was that there was no direct overland linkage to Central Asian countries and the link passed through countries which at the best of the times can “give us some amount of difficulty”.
“Connecting to Central Asia through Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan is not easy but it is a challenge that we have to face,” he concluded.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 30th, 2013.
Indian Kashmir’s Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said on Saturday that he hoped the new government in Islamabad would allow international flights originating from Srinagar to fly over Pakistani airspace.
Speaking at a conference on ‘Cooperation, Development, Peace and Security in Central Asia’ at Kashmir University, Abdullah said if Pakistan allowed the use of its airspace for international flights originating from Srinagar, the Srinagar airport could become an international airport in the true sense.
“Unfortunately, because of the ... mindset of our neighbour on the western frontier that does not allow a direct flight from Srinagar to overfly their airspace, we have not been able to take advantage of this connect that was available to us,” a news agency quoted the chief minister as saying.
“One hopes with a new dispensation in Pakistan, with encouraging voices emerging from the new Prime Minister of Pakistan [Nawaz Sharif] about normalising the relations to some extent between our two countries, perhaps this [use of airspace] is one aspect that can also be normalised,” Abdullah stated.
He added that the flying distance between Srinagar and some of the capitals of Central Asian states was shorter than the distance between it and some big Indian cities.
“The international airport at Srinagar that currently exists only on paper [will] become an international airport in operations as well. And one day, the direct flights to one of these Central Asian states [will] originate from Srinagar,” he added.
Abdullah said Indian Kashmir was uniquely placed in the Indian set up to talk about linkages with Central Asia and to, possibly in future, derive advantages from those linkages.
“The policy of the ministry of external affairs of ‘Connect Central Asia’ will be ideally suited for J&K (Indian Kashmir) because geographically we are the closest, spiritually we have a connect and almost every aspect of life in Kashmir, were you to scratch the surface, you will find a connection between us and Central Asia.”
“Our heritage, language, culture, our architecture and the biggest connect is in our religion. Therefore, it is but natural that there will be an affinity between us and Central Asian States,” he added.
Abdullah rued the fact that the neighbourhood of the state “has not allowed us to take advantage of the historic association that Kashmir has with Central Asia”.
The disadvantage for India, he said, was that there was no direct overland linkage to Central Asian countries and the link passed through countries which at the best of the times can “give us some amount of difficulty”.
“Connecting to Central Asia through Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan is not easy but it is a challenge that we have to face,” he concluded.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 30th, 2013.