The Minister for Aviation, Ghulam Sarwar Khan, has claimed that an ‘Indian lobby’ is responsible for last month’s impoundment of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) passenger airplane in Malaysia. He made these remarks during an informal interaction with reporters in Taxila.
He also blamed the former Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government for leasing the PIA aircraft from a foreign company at a higher market value.
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Sarwar said that the former Advisor for Aviation, Shujaat Azeem, had attempted to obtain kickbacks from the aircraft lease contract.
“Azeem was ‘controlled’ by some Indians,” the minister claimed, adding that this is why the incumbent government had decided against paying the lease when it expired in July 2020.
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The national airline had to face embarrassment on an international level in mid-January when one of its Boeing aircraft had been confiscated in Malaysia on the orders of a local court because PIA had been unable to pay the lease for the plane.
However, following court proceedings in London, the plane was allowed to return to Pakistan on Friday.
