SCO states swap border inputs as Pakistan extends airspace ban till August 24

Newdelhi,UPDATED: Jul 18, 2026 20:08 IST

A series of international developments on Saturday centred on security, regional tensions and criminal investigations, with officials from Shanghai Cooperation Organisation member states, including India and Pakistan, exchanging information on border situations, while Pakistan and Kuwait urged the US and Iran to honour a peace agreement signed last month amid fresh strikes.

Elsewhere, Pakistan extended its airspace ban for Indian aircraft till August 24 and said petroleum prices would now be revised daily because of swings linked to the conflict in West Asia. The United Nations human rights agency also voiced concern over a "wave of unrest" in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, while media reports from Canada said an Indian truck driver was found dead in Hamilton and police had opened a homicide investigation.

Officials from SCO countries, including India and Pakistan, "exchanged information and assessments" on the situation along the international borders of the member states.

Pakistan and Kuwait urged Washington and Tehran to uphold the Memorandum of Understanding signed last month and avoid any steps that could further escalate tensions amid renewed fighting over the Strait of Hormuz. In a related development, the United States and Iran exchanged strikes aimed at infrastructure and military targets on Saturday, and an Iranian negotiator said Tehran was suspending its commitments under the interim deal with the US.

Amid the renewed tensions in West Asia, Pakistan announced that petroleum prices in the country would be adjusted daily to tackle uneven fluctuations in oil prices. Separately, the country's airports authority said the closure of Pakistani airspace to Indian aircraft had been extended till August 24.

The UN human rights agency said it was concerned about the "wave of unrest" in PoK and called for investigations into the killings of protesters as well as members of the security forces.

In Canada, media reports said an Indian man working as a truck driver was found dead under mysterious circumstances in Hamilton, prompting a homicide investigation. In the UK, an Indian-origin woman who pleaded guilty to fraud over illegally obtaining five state-backed business loans during the Covid pandemic was sentenced to more than two years in jail. In a separate case in England, the mother of a British Sikh man serving a life sentence for fatally stabbing a teenager in south-east England was jailed for removing the murder weapon from the scene.

In Russia, officials said overnight Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian regions killed eight people and wounded more than 60 others. The day's developments, from diplomatic exchanges and renewed conflict to criminal probes and court action, together formed a broad picture of events across multiple countries.

With PTI Inputs

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