ISLAMABAD – The air traffic returned to normal in the region a day after Pakistan and Iran decided to de-escalate tension that erupted in the aftermath of missile strikes.
Sources close to the Civil Aviation Authority confirmed that the number of flights entering Pakistan’s airspace visibly increased after the ties between the two countries were repaired.
The number of flights entering Pakistan’s airspace crossed 700 per day as the air traffic entering the country from the West returned to normal.
Pakistan’s airspace witnessed a 50 percent decline in the number of flights after Iran targeted areas within Balochistan province, a move that triggered retaliatory strikes in the wee hours of Thursday.
Pakistan had also called back its ambassador Muhammad Mudassar Tipu from Iran in the wake of the attacks; however, both countries have now agreed to repair the fractured ties.
Pakistan’s prime minister’s office said on Friday that the country has decided to restore diplomatic relations with Iran.
The decision was made during separate meetings of Pakistan’s federal cabinet and top security body, the National Security Committee (NSC), to deliberate upon the matters.
“It was in the interest of both countries to take steps to restore the relationship to what it was prior to 16th January,” Pakistan PM Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar’s office said in a statement after the federal cabinet meeting.
“In this regard, Pakistan would welcome and reciprocate all positive measures from the Iranian side.”
During the cabinet meeting, officials briefed participants about details of the attack from the Iranian side as well as Pakistan’s response to it, according to the statement. The cabinet lauded the high professionalism with which Pakistani forces responded to the “breach of Pakistan’s sovereignty.”
PM Kakar said Pakistan was a law-abiding and peace-loving country and it sought friendly and cooperative relations with all countries, particularly its neighbors, according to his office.
It bears mentioning that when the tension prevailed, Pakistan had advised its national carrier and other carriers to avoid Iran’s air space.
