PM's plane used Pak airspace to Saudi, avoided in return

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's plane avoided Pakistan airspace as he flew back from Jeddah to New Delhi after cutting short his trip to Saudi Arabia following the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam. PM Modi returned to Delhi on Wednesday morning after terrorists opened fire on a group of tourists, leaving 26 people dead.

The Resistance Front, a local offshoot of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, has taken responsibility for the attack.

India Today has accessed two images of the routes taken by the PM's flight while flying to Jeddah and returning to Delhi. The first image shows PM Modi's IAF Boeing 777-300 (K7067) flying over Pakistan airspace on its way to Saudi Arabia's Jeddah on Tuesday. The second image shows the plane avoiding Pakistani airspace on Wednesday as PM Modi urgently flew back to Delhi after the terror attack.

After returning to Delhi, PM Modi held an emergency briefing at the airport with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri.

The PM was in Saudi Arabia when the attack took place, and he was briefed by Home Minister Amit Shah. Condemning the attack, the PM vowed that those involved in the massacre would not be spared.