The Ministry of External Affairs on Tuesday rejected Pakistan’s claims of delays in granting overflight permission for aircraft transporting relief supplies to Sri Lanka, emphasising that India responded quickly and handled the matter transparently.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said Pakistan’s statement was aimed at misleading the public and misrepresenting India’s actions. He said, “We reject the ridiculous statement made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan, which is yet another attempt to spread anti-India misinformation.”
Connecting the timeline of events, Jaiswal clarified that India received Pakistan’s request through diplomatic channels well in advance and responded within hours. He stated, “The request for overflight clearance for Pakistani aircraft carrying humanitarian assistance to Sri Lanka was received by the High Commission of India in Islamabad at around 1300 hrs on December 01, 2025.”
Jaiswal emphasised that New Delhi acted with urgency because the situation in Sri Lanka demanded immediate assistance. He said, “Given the urgency of humanitarian assistance, the Government of India processed the request expeditiously the same day and granted the overflight permission as per the itinerary proposed at 1730 hrs on December 01, 2025.”
Even as India detailed the prompt approval issued on Monday, Pakistan continued to accuse New Delhi of creating hurdles.
The Pakistan Foreign Office claimed on X that “India continues to block humanitarian assistance from Pakistan to Sri Lanka,” alleging that an aircraft had been waiting “for over 60 hours now” for airspace access.
Pakistan further alleged that the clearance India issued was unusable, stating that “the partial flight clearance issued by India last night, after 48 hours, was operationally impractical: time-bound for just a few hours and without validity for the return flight, severely hindering this urgent relief Mission for the brotherly people of Sri Lanka.”
However, X added reader-generated context, labelling the post shared by Pakistan’s foreign affairs ministry as “fake news.” It also noted that Pakistan had reportedly sent expired aid to Sri Lanka.
At the same time, Islamabad faced separate criticism online after its High Commission in Sri Lanka shared photos of relief items that had been dispatched. The mission posted that “Relief packages from Pakistan have been successfully delivered to assist our brothers and sisters affected by the recent floods in Sri Lanka, which signifies our unwavering solidarity.”
(This is a developing story)