(Image source from: TOI)

On Thursday, a chartered business jet transporting Tahawwur Rana, implicated in the 26/11 attack plot, opted for a longer route to reach Delhi, bypassing Pakistani airspace from the United States. Conversely, the Gulfstream G550, a high-end ultra-long-range jet, chose to follow the standard path over Pakistan on its return trip to the UAE. Typically, both commercial and private charter flights traveling between the US and India pass over Pakistan. This incident occurs at a time of strained relations between India and Pakistan, largely due to issues surrounding terrorism and India's recent repeal of Article 370 concerning Jammu and Kashmir.

In 2019, amid tensions following a terrorist assault in Pulwama that resulted in the deaths of 44 soldiers, India and Pakistan both closed their airspaces as a retaliatory measure. However, they subsequently reopened their airspaces to civilian aircraft several months later. Notably, in August of the previous year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's aircraft flew for approximately 46 minutes over Pakistani airspace while returning from Poland.