India on Tuesday rejected Pakistan’s allegation that it delayed permission for relief flights to cyclone-hit Sri Lanka, calling the claim “baseless” and “ridiculous.”
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said Pakistan’s overflight request, submitted around 1 pm Monday, was cleared by 5:30 pm the same day, a turnaround of just four hours.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal described Pakistani reports of a delay as “another attempt of spreading anti-India misinformation.”
Islamabad had claimed its special aircraft faced over 60 hours of delays and that partial clearance issued after 48 hours was “operationally impractical.”
Sri Lanka continues to reel from Cyclone Ditwah, which has caused severe flooding, landslides, and infrastructure damage. The Disaster Management Centre reports at least 410 deaths and 336 missing since November 16. India has launched Operation Sagar Bandhu to provide relief and support recovery efforts.