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Pak sends proposal on resuming air links
Rajeev Sharma
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 30
Pakistan has sent a proposal to the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government for technical-level talks to resume civil aviation links between the two countries.

The talks would cover a wide ambit, including the issue of overflights, well-placed sources in the South Block and Pakistan’s High Commission told The Tribune here today.

Both sides feel that the proposal is “a step forward” in the peace process that started in April.

A senior official in the Vajpayee government said the Pakistani proposal had been received. The official declined to elaborate, except for saying that the proposal would be thoroughly examined.

It is understood that the proposal would be examined by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in consultation with the Ministry of Civil Aviation as well as the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

The official said the dates for talks proposed by Islamabad were end of August and beginning of September.

“Yes, we have invited the Indian technical team for talks in Islamabad. We have given a set of dates to the (MEA),” Pakistan’s Deputy High Commissioner Munnawar Saeed told The Tribune.

Asked about the exact dates proposed by Pakistan for technical talks, the Pakistani diplomat said, “It is for the MEA to divulge the dates as it would not be proper for me to announce them.”

New Delhi and Islamabad have divergent stands on the issue of civil aviation links. New Delhi wants guaranteed overflights apart from reciprocal flights. Islamabad, on the other hand, wants some sort of a guarantee, or even a treaty, ensuring that the civil aviation links cannot be snapped unilaterally by either of the two parties.

External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha, in a recent interview with The Tribune, had rejected the Pakistani demand, saying that if Islamabad wanted a guarantee on civil aviation links, India could ask for hundreds of guarantees on many other issues.