New Delhi: India and Pakistan got into a diplomatic spat over Indian overflight clearance to Pakistani relief aircraft bound for cyclone-hit Sri Lanka, with Islamabad claiming it was granted in a delayed and ‘impractical’ manner and New Delhi denying claims of a delay as ‘ridiculous’.

Pakistan's foreign office said on Tuesday (December 2) afternoon that a special aircraft carrying aid for Sri Lanka remained delayed by over 60 hours as it was “awaiting flight clearance from India”.

New Delhi granted “partial” clearance on Monday night 48 hours after a request was made but this would last “for just a few hours” and was not valid for the flight's return to Pakistan, it added.

However, the Indian external affairs ministry on Tuesday evening denied Islamabad's charge.

India's high commission in Islamabad received the clearance request at around 1 pm on Monday, following which New Delhi processed it “expeditiously” and greenlit it “as per the itinerary proposed” at 5:30 pm the same day, ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, calling Islamabad's remarks “ridiculous” and “yet another attempt of spreading anti-India misinformation”.

Islamabad closed its airspace to Indian aircraft after New Delhi suspended the Indus Waters Treaty following the Pahalgam terror attack of April 22. Days later India shut its airspace to Pakistani aircraft.

In a statement quoted by the Pakistani newspaper Dawn, Islamabad's high commission in Sri Lanka claimed on Tuesday that the Indian side's overflight clearance was valid for around six hours, “which was not sufficient for an aircraft to move back and forth to Colombo”.

“Earlier, Indian authorities were reportedly engaged in deliberate delaying tactics, repeatedly asking Pakistan to resubmit and re-route flight plans despite already receiving complete documentation,” the high commission said per Dawn, accusing India of behaving in a “callous” and “politically motivated” way in addition to violating “established international humanitarian norms”.

Floods, landslides and heavy rain caused by Cyclone Ditwah have killed 465 people and rendered 366 others missing in Sri Lanka. The losses and damages caused are the worst in the country since the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

Ditwah then moved north over the Bay of Bengal along the Tamil Nadu coast, weakening into a depression but leaving four people in the southern state dead in rain-related incidents, NDTV reported.

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