If Pakistan bans Taiwan flights, will India-Taiwan direct flights operate?

As part of its 'One China' policy, Pakistan has denied Taiwan's airlines the use of its airspace. Amidst this situation, the Ministry of External Affairs has given an important statement regarding the possibilities of starting direct flights between India and Taiwan. According to a Bloomberg report, Pakistan has become the first country to explicitly refuse to allow Taiwan's airlines to use its airspace in support of China's 'One China' policy.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, while clarifying questions regarding direct flights between India and Taiwan on Wednesday, stated that if there are direct flights between India and Taiwan, they will certainly fly. This statement came after Pakistan's refusal to allow Taiwan's flights to enter its airspace.

According to a Bloomberg report, Islamabad confirmed this decision on Wednesday. Earlier, there were reports that Taiwan's airlines were taking longer routes to avoid Pakistan's airspace. This step has been taken because Pakistan maintains close political and strategic relations with China. Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, while speaking to Bloomberg News, stated that the Aviation Division follows the 'One China' policy and only mainland China has been granted approval. He further added that we have only given permission to Chinese airlines to fly over Pakistan.

Aviation observers noted that some of Taiwan's flights were taking longer routes to reach Europe and had been flying entirely over Russia since the weekend. According to Flightradar24 data, a China Airlines flight from Taipei to Rome on 24 October used Russian airspace instead of its previous route between India, Pakistan, and Turkmenistan. At least 12 Asia-Europe flights operated by Taiwanese airlines have been rerouted over Russia.

This ban is the first known instance in which a country has explicitly refused to allow Taiwan's airlines to enter its airspace on the grounds of adhering to the 'One China' principle. Under this policy, China considers Taiwan an inseparable part of Chinese territory. Pakistan established diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China in 1951 and was one of the early countries to establish relations with China. Since then, both countries have maintained close political, economic, and strategic relations and often refer to their relationship as an 'all-weather' partnership.