Pakistan denies Indian president permission to enter airspace

Islamabad has refused to give the president of India permission to enter its airspace for his flight to Iceland, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Saturday.

Prime Minister Imran Khan approved the move in light of India’s treatment of people in occupied Kashmir, Qureshi told Pakistani media, adding that the state’s concerns about Kashmir would be raised with the UN’s Human Rights Council.

India’s President Ram Nath Kovind is due to travel to Iceland, Switzerland and Slovenia next week as part of a business delegation to promote economic ties between the nations and India.

The refusal is the latest escalation in increased tensions between the neighboring states after India’s government unexpectedly revoked Kashmir’s special status last month. New Delhi insists that stripping the disputed region of self-governing status is necessary to curb terrorism. However, Pakistan has condemned the curfew-like sanctions imposed on Kashmir.

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