India and Kuwait will continue their discussions for the third day on Saturday on resolving the row over air traffic rights following the gulf state's threat to stop Indian national carriers flying there from Sunday.
"The two days of talks were inconclusive and is to be extended to Saturday by which a definite picture will emerge," Indian Ambassador to Kuwait M Ganapathi, who also took part in the talks, said without mentioning the problems, which is hampering an agreement.
He, however, expressed hope that the standoff would be resolved by this noon.
"We are always hopeful," he said.
The spat began when Kuwait decided to stop Indian carriers from flying into the country from July 1. In a bid to break the deadlock, a high-level Indian delegation comprising civil aviation ministry joint secretary R K Singh and representatives of A-I and IA arrived in Kuwait on Thursday.
A bilateral agreement was signed between India and Kuwait last year allowing 5,200 seats per week for both.
Kuwait has urged to raise the limit and requested that its carriers be allowed to pick up passengers from third nations.
While Kuwait Airways and Al-Jazeera operate daily flights to India, Air India and Indian Airlines maintain a total of seven flights per week out of Kuwait.
The main concern of the Indian Civil Aviation ministry is Jazeera's low fares, as it offers fares ranging from Rs 4000-12,000 on the Mumbai-Dubai sector while fares of Air India Express start at around Rs 7000.
The Indian government says that though the bilateral understanding technically does not prevent Jazeera from flying via Dubai, the civil aviation ministry feels this is against the "spirit" of the agreement.
http://www.financialexpress.com/latest_full_story.php?content_id=168688
"The two days of talks were inconclusive and is to be extended to Saturday by which a definite picture will emerge," Indian Ambassador to Kuwait M Ganapathi, who also took part in the talks, said without mentioning the problems, which is hampering an agreement.
He, however, expressed hope that the standoff would be resolved by this noon.
"We are always hopeful," he said.
The spat began when Kuwait decided to stop Indian carriers from flying into the country from July 1. In a bid to break the deadlock, a high-level Indian delegation comprising civil aviation ministry joint secretary R K Singh and representatives of A-I and IA arrived in Kuwait on Thursday.
A bilateral agreement was signed between India and Kuwait last year allowing 5,200 seats per week for both.
Kuwait has urged to raise the limit and requested that its carriers be allowed to pick up passengers from third nations.
While Kuwait Airways and Al-Jazeera operate daily flights to India, Air India and Indian Airlines maintain a total of seven flights per week out of Kuwait.
The main concern of the Indian Civil Aviation ministry is Jazeera's low fares, as it offers fares ranging from Rs 4000-12,000 on the Mumbai-Dubai sector while fares of Air India Express start at around Rs 7000.
The Indian government says that though the bilateral understanding technically does not prevent Jazeera from flying via Dubai, the civil aviation ministry feels this is against the "spirit" of the agreement.
http://www.financialexpress.com/latest_full_story.php?content_id=168688