Indian Flight in Karachi: Could Pakistan have refused the landing of an Indian flight?

An Indian plane made an emergency landing in Karachi, Pakistan on Tuesday. Due to a technical fault, this plane was landed in Karachi. This flight was SpiceJet’s SG-011 which had taken off from Delhi and which was to go to Dubai. The passengers of the flight waited in Karachi till the arrival of the new aircraft and were then flown to Dubai. It was told by the airline that due to a fault in the indicator, the plane was landed in Karachi. According to the official statement, no one knew about the fault in the flight in advance and no emergency was declared. But could Pakistan have refused to land this plane? So the answer is no.

What are international laws
In 1944, the Chicago Treaty started, in which 6 types of freedom of air were mentioned. These rules were considered as a fundamental right of a country. Under these rights which were given to a country,

• Airline got the right to land in a third country while flying from one country to another.
• The aircraft can be landed on a foreign soil for refueling or maintenance. For this there is no need to unload passengers or cargo.
• The third and fourth rights include flying from the airline’s home country to another country and flying from a foreign land to the home country.
• Two rights were later granted, allowing that airline to operate between two countries that are not affiliated with them. Apart from this, that airline got the right to stop in his house.

What is ICAO
The International Civil Organization (ICAO) was established on 4 April 1947 after the Chicago Treaty. Pakistan became its member in November 1974. An important rule of this council is that under no circumstances can you refuse to land a flight from another country.

If there is an emergency, then it is the responsibility of the ATC of the landing country to provide a safe passage to the plane. Due to the compulsion of this one rule, Pakistan had allowed the flight of India to make an emergency landing.

When did the landing in Pakistan happen?
On 2 March 2021, an IndiGo flight made a landing at Jinnah Terminal International Airport in Karachi. This flight was going from Sharjahan to Lucknow. The permission for landing was given by the Air Traffic Control (ATC) of Karachi after the health of a passenger on the flight deteriorated. The plane was allowed to land on humanitarian grounds. However, the passenger who was ill, had died.

In November 2016, when tensions between India and Pakistan were at the peak after the Uri terror attack and surgical strikes, a flight was also made to land in Karachi. It was a Jet Airways plane and a passenger reported a serious health issue to the crew. After this, the pilot of this flight had to decide whether he should either return to New Delhi or land on the nearby runway.

The pilot decided to land on the nearest runway as per the standard operating procedure. He diverted the flight towards Karachi and made a landing there. Karachi’s ATC complied with international rules and provided full help. Along with this, he also informed Delhi ATC about this.

Pakistan can’t deny
Last year, Pakistan had allowed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plane to depart from India’s airspace on the special request of India. In such a situation, it is normal for such landings to come in the headlines. However, Pakistan cannot refuse to allow India’s aircraft to land in difficult situations even if it wants.
However, on November 2021, Pakistan refused to give way to a GoFirst flight. Pakistan was first accused of violating the Freedom of Air at that time. You will be surprised to know that Indian flights going to West Asia, which take off from Delhi and Lucknow, do not have any problem with Pakistan.