The Ministry of External Affairs Sunday described the Enforcement Directorate’s notice to the Pakistan International Airlines in Delhi as a “storm in a teacup”. The ED has issued a notice to the PIA’s offices in Delhi as they had claimed to have found the purchase of these properties as “unauthorised”. MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said, “This is not a storm in the ties. It’s a storm in a teacup. It has not even reached us (at the MEA)”. On Friday, the PIA responded to the ED notice of November 2014 that it was running office in Delhi since 1976 and the immovable property was acquired in the months of May and June 2005, as per Regulation 5 of Foreign Exchange Management (Acquisition and Transfer of Immovable Property in India) Regulations, 2000. “As per the rules, we had filed with the Reserve Bank of India declaration in Form IPI on June 20, 2005 within 90 days from the date of such acquisitions that was duly acknowledged by the RBI,” PIA had said in response to the ED notice. The PIA, which runs two flights between Delhi and Lahore per week and a flight from Mumbai to Karachi every week, has also requested the ED to immediately withdraw the notice which is “hampering smooth operation for larger interest of people of both the countries”. Pakistan government sources said while PIA will continue to operate its flights, the ED action has been perceived as amounting to harassment of the local staff.
