Pahalgam Incident. No Concrete Evidence Against Pakistan New York Times
Closure of Pakistani Airspace Causes Daily Loss of INR 250 Million to Indian Airlines; Average 1200 Weekly Flights Affected
New York + Islamabad + New Delhi (Monitoring Desk)
The American newspaper New York Times has revealed that in the context of the Pahalgam incident, India has no concrete evidence against Pakistan. According to New York Times, it appears that India is building a case to launch an attack against Pakistan, as foreign diplomats have said that India has not been able to present solid evidence linking Pakistan to the Pahalgam attack.
According to the report by the American newspaper, after the Pahalgam incident, India summoned 100 foreign diplomats to the Ministry of External Affairs for a briefing, where they were provided with limited information, including data identifying those allegedly responsible for the Pahalgam incident and some technical intelligence. However, according to diplomats and analysts who attended the briefing, India failed to present any concrete evidence about the incident.
New York Times stated that four diplomats familiar with the briefing disclosed that New Delhi seemingly is building a case for military action against its neighbor and traditional rival, Pakistan, although there is no evidence proving Pakistan’s involvement in the Pahalgam attack.
The newspaper further commented that to divert global attention from internal unrest, India has issued threats of war against Pakistan. Immediately after the Pahalgam incident, India blamed Pakistan, and Prime Minister Modi contacted dozens of world leaders seeking support for action against Pakistan. Instead of working to de-escalate tensions internationally, India is preparing justification for military action against Pakistan. Modi accused Pakistan of supporting terrorist groups and also threatened a severe response. During the briefing at the Ministry of External Affairs, Indian officials blamed Pakistan for supporting terrorist groups that target India.
The closure of Pakistani airspace is causing Indian airlines a daily loss of INR 250 million. According to details, Indian airlines are facing a daily loss of INR 205 million in fuel costs alone due to the airspace closure.
Before the closure, Indian aircraft used 4 out of Pakistan’s 11 air routes regularly. On average, around 1200 Indian flights per week passed through Pakistani airspace.
Now, Indian aircraft are forced to reroute over open seas, significantly increasing fuel consumption and operational costs. Flights from Delhi, Lucknow, and Amritsar heading to Dubai and the Middle East are consuming nearly double the amount of fuel.
A Boeing aircraft from India faces additional costs of $547,000 for every 100 hours of extra flying time, while Airbus aircraft bear an extra fuel cost of $196,000 for the same duration.
Due to the closure of Pakistani airspace, Indian planes are enduring an additional 2 to 4 hours of flight time, resulting in increased ticket prices. Consequently, passengers are now preferring foreign airlines, causing further financial losses to Indian airlines.
In 2019, the closure of Pakistani airspace had also cost Air India approximately INR 4.91 billion.