DELHI: Indias Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued a notice to Pakistan International Airlines (PIA)- the sole carrier for flights between India and Pakistan to dispose of its properties in Delhi as their purchase was unauthorised. This is likely to set off a diplomatic storm, given that relations between India and Pakistan are already at an all-time low.
According to The Hindus Suhasini Haidar, the ED said the properties were acquired in contravention of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) and without the requisite Reserve Bank of India (RBI) permissions. However, PIA Manager in North India, Saeed Ahmad Khan maintained that the purchases of four office spaces in Connaught Place, New Delhi in 2005 had received clearances at the time. The airline has been operating from there for nearly a decade, he said.
The dispute over the legality of the PIA office has been ongoing for two months now. We are at a loss to understand why they are acting now, and how we will operate without marketing and sales offices, Mr. Khan said. The issue has reportedly been discussed between Indian and Pakistani authorities for a couple of months with no resolution, and sources said the Pakistani government was going to take it up with the Ministry of External Affairs soon.
The report has been picked up by media across Pakistan with headlines such as Indian agencies harassing PIA staff in The News and The Express Tribune reporting that PIA allegedly being forced to shut down operations in India.
The Express Tribune reports that In what seemed to be a systematic plan, Saeed Khans visa has not been renewed by Indias home and external affairs ministries, and his cellphone service has also been disconnected.
The Hindu report also says that Indias external affairs ministry did not comment on the issue when asked.
According to the paper, official Pakistani sources were worried that EDs notice to PIA had political overtones and were aimed at cutting off a vital link between the two countries. It quoted one official as saying that the timing of the move which came after foreign secretary-level talks between Pakistan and India were cancelled last July – indicated that other actions which create a further rift between the two nations could follow.
PIA is the only airline which runs direct flights between Pakistan and India twice a week between Lahore and New Delhi, and once a week between Karachi and Mumbai. Without these flights, travellers from both countries will either have to cross the Wagah-Attari border by foot or rely on transit flights through a third country.
A senior Indian official speaking to The Hindu downplayed the significance of the notice to PIA, adding that the Wagah-Attari route was in any case the more popular way for travellers to Pakistan.
On Friday, 16 Jan, PIA responded formally to the EDs notice, asking the RBI to immediately withdraw the notice, which it said was hampering our smooth operation for the larger interest of the people of both countries. The reply also added that the RBI had been informed of the purchase through Form IPI on June 20, 2005, via Citibank that had processed the payments.
According to the Express Tribune, Pakistans Foreign Office said PIA has been instructed to follow legal procedures and seek a legal remedy to the issue posed by the ED notice. In a statement carried by the BBC on Sunday, spokesperson Tasnim Aslam said Islamabads reaction to the notice has been conveyed to New Delhi.
She added that the Foreign Office has also raised the issue of the extension of visas of the PIA staff in New Delhi. Hopefully, this issue will be resolved soon, she said.
PIA spokesman Rana Hanif, meanwhile, said the airlines staff will appear before Indian authorities on January 29 and present all records and documents pertaining to the purchase of the properties in question. He insisted that the properties were purchased in accordance with the law.
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