Pakistan lost nearly ₹127 crore after closing airspace to India in 2 months: Report
Pakistan's national assembly was reportedly told that the country lost ₹127 crore from April 24 to June 30 in overflying revenue.
Pakistan has reportedly lost nearly ₹127 crore in over two months since it shut its airspace to India following the suspension of the Indus Waters treaty after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.
According to a Dawn report, Pakistan's the Ministry of Defence has informed the National Assembly that the country lost the amount from April 24 to June 30, and that the loss was in overflying revenue.
However, while it submitted the data of the losses, Pakistan's Defence Ministry reportedly said amounts reflected “revenue shortfalls, not overall financial losses”, adding that overflight and aeronautical charges have remained the same.
“While financial losses occur, sovereignty and national defence take precedence over economic considerations,” the Defence Ministry reportedly said in a statement.
Pakistan shut its airspace to all Indian airlines on April 24 as it rejected India’s decision to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960. Islamabad had said that any stopping or diversion of water under the pact would be seen as an “act of war”.
Pakistan has since stopped allowing any Indian plane to use its airspace, reducing its transit traffic by nearly 20%, Dawn further reported.
The publication also said that a similar closure of airspace back in 2019 led to a loss of ₹235 crore. Pakistan had shut the airspace to India followed by an Indian Air Force strike on a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror camp in Balakot in February, 2019.
Both India and Pakistan continue to close airspaces to each other. While New Delhi has extended the closure of its airspace to the neighbouring country till August 23, Pakistan has reportedly extended it till the last week of this month.
