Cyclone Ditwah: India accused of obstructing Pakistan’s relief flight to Sri Lanka

WEB DESK: Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry has accused India of deliberately obstructing a humanitarian aid mission to Sri Lanka, causing significant delays. According to an official statement, a special Pakistani relief aircraft has been awaiting Indian flight clearance for over 60 hours, preventing the delivery of critical supplies.

The ministry detailed that India provided partial clearance only after a 48-hour delay, issuing terms that were “practically unworkable.” Notably, the limited-time clearance did not include permission for the aircraft’s return flight, rendering the mission logistically impossible to execute.

“This obstruction is directly impacting relief efforts for our Sri Lankan brothers,” the statement asserted, reflecting that the people of Sri Lanka are being deprived of timely humanitarian assistance due to the unnecessary hold-up.

Pakistan described its mission as one based purely on human compassion and expressed frustration that it continues to face persistent barriers. The Foreign Ministry’s remarks shows heightened tensions in regional diplomacy, where humanitarian cooperation is being complicated by procedural and political hurdles. The prolonged delay highlights the challenges of coordinating relief efforts in South Asia amid longstanding geopolitical disputes.

Rescue efforts intensified in Sri Lanka on Monday as the death toll from Cyclone Ditwah reached 355, with 366 people still missing. The storm, which struck last Friday, triggered the country’s worst floods in a decade and caused devastating landslides in central regions. Over half a million people have been affected, with visuals showing residents salvaging belongings from flooded homes near Colombo.

While train and flight services have resumed, schools remain closed. The storm, now moving northward away from the island and weakening, marks the first time a natural disaster has struck the entire nation. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake described it as the “largest and most challenging” in Sri Lanka’s history. The cyclone also impacted southern India, killing three people in Tamil Nadu before weakening into a deep depression off the coast of Chennai.