Only international flights going to London, Muscat, Helsinki, etc are being allowed to fly, as they are supposed to enter from the Indian air space to Pakistan air space
New Delhi: While the situation is tense at the India-Pakistan border, the Ministry of Home affairs has asked all security forces to activate all preventive measures including a temporarily shutdown of airports in Chandigarh, Leh, Srinagar and Jammu.
According to sources, the ATC, along with the Indian Air Force, is keeping an eye on the skies to detect not only unauthorised aircraft but also drones which can be used for surveillance, attack etc. But, from Bikaner to Leh, the Indian air space has been cleared.
Air space over the Kashmir region has been cleared. The last commercial flight that was supposed to land was from Bengaluru to Chandigarh, which has taken a U-turn. Also, a Jet airways flight was asked to take a U-turn by the ATC.
Also read: 5 airports including Jammu, Chandigarh and Amritsar shut down amid tension between India, Pakistan
“Measures have been taken due to the expectation of retaliation from Pakistan. The air space has been cleared completely. Two flights were not allowed to fly from and to the Chandigarh airport. Air space is now completely clear, no commercial flight after 12:20 PM was in the Kashmir region air space,” an ATC official told MyNation.
The ATC also confirmed that only international flights going to London, Muscat, Helsinki, etc were allowed to fly, as they were supposed to enter from Indian air space to Pakistan air space. All no-fly zones will be under strict watch for about 36 hours. Every suspected UAV will be shot down by the forces as per order.
International Flights have been asked to take the Jodhpur route to move out and enter into Indian air space for security reasons.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh has held a meeting with all chiefs of paramilitary forces where Singh has told the forces to be ready to deal with any situation. The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has already withdrawn from all soft postings in Jammu and Kashmir. The MHA is likely to brief media after the meeting.
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