Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, May 10: Immediately after the ceasefire announcement between India and Pakistan at 5PM on Saturday, Pakistan announced lifting of closure of its airspace for all kinds of traffic.
Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) made the announcement as apparently normalcy returns to the country after the raging tension with India ended with the ceasefire announcement. “All airports in the country are available for normal flight operations. Passengers are requested to contact the relevant airlines for the latest schedule of their flights,” the PAA said.
It also said that Pakistan’s airspace has been fully restored for all types of flights, and all airports in the country were available for normal flight operations. Pakistan’s airspace remand closed for a certain duration and routes due to the tension with India, which hampered regular air traffic, resulting in inconvenience for passengers.
India and Pakistan agreed on a ceasefire after India unleashed decisive final strikes on Pakistani airbases that dealt a heavy blow to Pakistan’s Air Force assets. Both sides came to an agreement after Pakistan’s Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) reached out to his Indian counterpart.
During the talks, Pakistan explicitly stated it would not carry out any further strikes and formally requested a ceasefire, sources added. The DGMOs of both countries are expected to hold further talks on May 12.
Even as the US president Donald Trump claimed that the ceasefire was reached “in a long night of talks mediated by the United States,” the Indian government said the understanding was reached between the two countries in direct talks. Sources said the US had no direct role in the negotiations except for engaging with the top leadership of both countries.
However, the Trump administration is learnt to have played an important role in the de-escalation of hostilities by placing direct pressure on Pakistan, linking the provisional release of a $1 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan to immediate acceptance of the ceasefire, with the remainder contingent on full compliance, sources said.
The IMF decided in favour of a $1 billion bailout for Pakistan, despite India showing strong resistance and abstaining from the vote. India highlighted how Pakistan has been a defaulter and that these funds have never been used for the development and upliftment of the people of Pakistan and, instead, have been diverted to terror funding.
