Who Has the Right to Violate Pakistan's Airspace?

Indian warplanes violate Pakistani airspace and Pakistani air force jets scramble to drive out their violating neighbors. But in the past several months, US drones have been constantly violating Pakistani airspace, bombing alleged terrorists and racking up the score on collateral damage, civilian casualties, and all Pakistan could do is whimper.

India is still smarting fresh from the Mumbai attacks. Yet Pakistan reacted quickly to the incursion but hardly to frequent US bombing. Whatever happened to national and territorial sovereignty? Is the UN still an effective organization to keep watch and police world peace? Or is it just a pushover in world politics and war? Who has the right to violate Pakistan's airspace?

Pakistan Says Indian Planes Entered Airspace

By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr. and SALMAN MASOOD
Published: December 14, 2008

LAHORE, Pakistan — Indian warplanes crossed into Pakistani airspace on Saturday over two parts of the country where the militant group accused of carrying out the Mumbai terror attacks is active, according to Pakistani officials, who said they scrambled their own air force jets to chase the Indian aircraft back across the border.

The incursions would appear to be an aggressive display by India, whose top officials describe neighboring Pakistan as the “epicenter of terrorism” and say Pakistan’s own intelligence service has long aided Lashkar-e-Taiba, the group blamed for the attacks in Mumbai last month, which sharply raised tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals.

Pakistani officials trumpeted the airspace breaches in statements to the news media but said there was no cause for “alarm.” They also said they had contacted Indian officials, who confirmed the breaches as accidental. But Indian outlets also reported on Sunday morning that the Indian military had denied any improper flyovers.

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