Major airlines suspending flights to Pakistan, India amid rising tensions
Major airlines have cancelled all fights to Pakistan and India amid rising tensions between the two countries.
The airlines, including Emirates, Air Canada and Qatar Airways, suspended flights on Wednesday after Pakistan closed its airspace.
Flight tracking portals showed planes that were forced to reroute because of the closure.
On its website, Air Canada notes that Mumbai and Delhi flights “may be impacted by airport facilities constraints.” Global News has reached out to the airline for more information.
The Canadian government also is urging caution for those travelling to certain parts of India and Pakistan.
The government is advising Canadians to avoid all non-essential travel to Pakistan, saying the “security situation is unpredictable.”
“There is a threat of terrorist attacks, kidnapping and sectarian violence,” the advisory reads.
The government has a more stern advisory for certain parts of Pakistan, where its says to avoid all travel.
Those areas include:
- the city of Islamabad
- the area within 10 km of all international borders (except the Wagah official border crossing point)
- the Kashmir region, including Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan
- the province of Balochistan and its capital city, Quetta
- the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, including Swat, the city of Peshawar, Khyber, North Waziristan and South Waziristan
For India, the government has issued regional advisories.
It notes that Canadians travelling to India should “exercise a high degree of caution” due to the threat of terror attacks throughout the country.
Regionally, it says to avoid all travel to Jammu and Kashmir. It also says to avoid all travel within 10 kilometres of the country’s border with Pakistan in the states of Gujarat, Punjab and Rajastan.
The border advisory is “due to the possibility of landmines and unexploded ordnance,” the government explains.
The Wagah border crossing and towns farther from the border, such as Amritsar in Punjab and Bikaner and Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, are not included in the advisory.
Canada also has other travel advisories for northeastern India, and relating to its shared border with Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Other countries, such as the United Kingdom and New Zealand have also issued travel warnings for India and Pakistan this week.
The latest wave of tensions between Pakistan and India first erupted after the militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad claimed responsibility for a Feb. 14 suicide bombing that killed over 40 Indian troops travelling in a convoy of paramilitary forces in the Indian portion of Kashmir.
Pakistan has said it was not involved in the attack and was ready to help New Delhi in the investigations. India has long accused Pakistan of cultivating such militant groups to attack it.
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