India Resumes Flights to Iraq After Almost 30-Year Hiatus - Reports
India's flag-carrier Air India has resumed regular flights to Iraq after they were suspended for nearly three decades, Iraqi media reported Friday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th February, 2019) India's flag-carrier Air India has resumed regular flights to Iraq after they were suspended for nearly three decades, Iraqi media reported Friday.
Planes will be flying between the southern Iraqi city of Najaf and New Delhi on Mondays and Thursdays, the Iraqi civil aviation authority was quoted as saying by the Alsumaria news channel.
The first plane carrying pilgrims to Najaf took off from Lucknow in India's Uttar Pradesh last Thursday. It was flagged off by Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
"The launch of this flight adds a new chapter in growing India-Iraq bilateral relations and fulfils the long-felt demand for air connectivity from pilgrims, professionals & tourists in both the countries," he tweeted.
India suspended all air traffic with Iraq in 1990 over sanctions imposed on Baghdad by the UN Security Council and kept the freeze in place over security concerns.