Pakistan downplayed alleged Indian violations of its airspace, suggesting yesterday that the breaches were “inadvertent” and “technical” in an apparent bid to avoid worsening tensions following the Mumbai attacks last month.
Pakistani officials said Indian aircraft entered 2km to 4km inside Pakistan’s section of the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir and over the eastern city of Lahore on Saturday.
Pakistani jets chased the Indian aircraft back over the border, authorities said.
Both sides are usually careful to avoid such territorial violations, and it was unclear how two separate but apparently accidental incursions could occur on the same day.
India denied its aircraft had crossed into Pakistani airspace.
“There has not been any airspace violation by the Indian air force as has been alleged,” Indian air force spokesman Mahesh Upasani said yesterday.
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown yesterday pledged US$9 million to Pakistan as part of a “comprehensive anti-terror program.”
Britain and Pakistan would work together under a new agreement to “ensure everything is done to make sure terrorists are denied any safe havens in Pakistan,” Brown said after meeting Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.
Brown was in Islamabad after visiting India and Afghanistan on a tour of the region to discuss security in the wake of the Mumbai attacks.
The money would be spent on programs including tackling the causes of radicalization, he said.
“Through these measures we hope to do more to break the chain of terror that links the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan to the streets of the UK and other countries around the world,” Brown said at a press conference with Zardari.
Brown said the joint program would be the largest of its kind to be undertaken by Britain and that the two countries would share information, working together to improve airport security and tackle centres of extremism.
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
POSSIBILITIES EMERGE: With Taiwan’s victory and Japan’s narrow win over Australia, Taiwan now have a chance to advance if South Korea also beat the Aussies Taiwan has high hopes that the national baseball team would advance to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarter-finals after clinching a crucial 5-4 victory over South Korea in a nail-biting extra-inning game at the Tokyo Dome yesterday. Boosted by three home runs — two solo shots by Yu Chang (張育成) and Cheng Tsung-che (鄭宗哲) and a two-run homer by Stuart Fairchild — the triumph gave Taiwan a much-needed second victory in the five-team Pool C, where only the top two finishers would advance to the knockout stage in Miami, Florida. Entering extra innings with the game tied at four apiece, Taiwan scored
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One person was killed and another seven injured today when a tourist shuttle bus plunged 30m to 40m down a ravine in Nantou County, the Tourism Administration said. The bus is suspected to have suddenly accelerated out of control near the flower center of the Sun-Link-Sea Forest Recreation Area, a popular attraction during cherry blossom season. Of the eight onboard, a 66-year-old man was killed, four were seriously injured and three sustained minor injuries, including the driver. The Nantou County Police Department said it received a report of the incident at 12:15pm and dispatched seven teams to assist. All surviving passengers have been transferred
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