Islamabad: Even as India awaited a response to its offer of restoration of air link, Pakistan has sought an agreement with New Delhi to prevent any unilateral banning of over-flights in future by either country.

Pakistan has suggested a meeting of civil aviation officials of the two countries to ensure that one party would not be able to withdraw over-flight rights of other country, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Masood Khan told reporters on July 7, as the two countries geared up to resume the Delhi-Lahore bus service from July 11.

The spokesman said Pakistan had offered to restore only the flight connections between the two countries and not the over-flights.

A fortnight after extending a hand of friendship to Pakistan, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on May 2 announced the restoration of civil-aviation link between the two countries. However, Pakistan is yet to reciprocate.

Khan said Pakistan Premier Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali's offer of restoration of air link in response to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's hand of friendship was only confined to restoration of flight connections between the two countries.

"Over-flights have different dimension. India since January 2002 suspended over-flights for Pakistan and we have to react," he said.

Pakistan is mulling to send a delegation of its civil aviation officials to New Delhi in response to an invitation from India to negotiate the proposed agreement, under which neither party would unilaterally withdraw over-flight rights of the other, the spokesman said.

"This can create a very messy situation. Air links, yes. There is no automaticity for over-flights. For that we will have to have a mechanism and modalities and will have to come to an agreement in accordance with international obligations and treaties," Khan said.

Airlines of both the countries have been incurring heavy losses due to re-routing of their flight paths. Pakistan says over 110 Indian international flights to Europe and Far East have been re-routed, wasting more time and money in the process, while Pakistan Airlines has diverted over 15 of its flights.

Khan gave no indication when Pakistan's civil aviation officials' delegation would visit New Delhi. Currently the two countries have also not initiated any steps to restore rail link, which were also snapped along with bus and air links after the terrorist attack on Indian Parliament.

Meanwhile, the Indian High Commission in Pakistan is flooded with requests for visas for the Lahore-New Delhi bus service, which begins on July 11.

PTI