Nepal reject’s India’s proposal for open sky policy in South Asia
Jul 21, 2017 under Business/Economy 516 , National 834 , Travel 114
Kathmandu: Nepal has rejected a proposal by India to implement the open sky policy in South Asia. India had proposed to implement the open sky policy in entire South Asia, including Nepal.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had forwarded the Indian proposal to the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) about a month ago. The issue was raised during the last South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit as well.
“Though the Indian proposal is positive, we rejected it because Nepal cannot sustain it now,” said Buddhisagar Lamichhane, joint secretary at MoCTCA.
“We have informed the Indian side that we cannot agree to the proposal as we do not have the required infrastructure right now,” Lamichhane added.
Lamichhane said that though the open sky policy is successful in Europe, it is not that successful in other regions. He argued that the open sky policy has been successful in Europe because of a single currency, similar culture and languages in the entire continent. “However, South Asia is different,” he said.
India had made the open sky proposal with the aim of doing away with the practice of seeking permission for flying from one country to another in all eight countries – India, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, Maldives, Afghanistan, Bhangladesh and Sri Lanka - of South Asia.
Lamichhane said as Nepal has only one international airport, Tribhuvan International Airport, at present, it cannot accept the open sky policy in the whole of South Asia.
No progress in ASA
Meanwhile, there has been no progress in Nepal’s efforts to sign an Air Space Agreement (ASA) with India. This is a crucial deal for Nepal which is building a regional international airport in Bhairahawa. However, India has been unwilling to sign this deal with Nepal.
MoCTCA officials say that the fact that India has maintained a silence on signing the ASA but has been insisting for the open sky policy in South Asia shows that India is giving priority only to its own interests. In the absence of the ASA with India, Nepal will have to pay to India for every take-off and landing from and at the Gautam Buddha Airport in Bhairahawa.
Tagged: Nepal 601, India 154, Airlines 52, Airspace 1, Travel 60, South Asia 6
