Pakistan 'ready to allow Indian flights'

Pakistan will allow Indian airlines to resume flights in its airspace, the president said today in the latest sign of a thaw in relations between the south Asian nuclear rivals.

President General Pervez Musharraf said Pakistan would agree to a resumption of overflights in two days of talks on restoring air links between the two countries to be held in New Delhi starting on Monday.

The two countries severed air service as well as road and railway links last year amid tension that led them to the brink of war. The last flights between the two countries were on January 1, 2002.

Since India’s leader in April called for a resumption of dialogue between the two countries to resolve their differences, they have restored some bus links and on Wednesday began a ceasefire on the military line that divides the disputed region of Kashmir between them.

Musharraf expressed hope that the recent thaw in relations would culminate in the resolution of all disputes between the two countries, including Kashmir.

In talks held in Islamabad in August on restoring air links, India had indicated its willingness to do so, but Pakistan was reluctant.

Musharraf’s announcement came after the departure Saturday of a four-member team of Pakistani officials for the talks in the Indian capital.

In New Delhi, Navtej Sarna, the Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesman, reacted cautiously to Musharraf’s statement.

“Let’s see,” Sarna said. He confirmed that the talks start Monday.

India banned Pakistan’s national airline from entering its airspace on January 1, 2002, after accusing Pakistan’s intelligence agency of sponsoring an attack on its Parliament in December 2001 which killed 14 people and nearly pushed the two countries into their fourth war since independence from Britain in 1947.