Pakistan denied airspace clearance to a Russian cargo flight carrying the first batch of nuclear fuel for Unit-2 of Bangladesh’s Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, delaying the shipment scheduled to arrive on September 24. Islamabad cited technical and procedural issues related to flight routing and airspace permissions.

Bangladesh’s Science and Technology Minister Faqir Mahbub Anam confirmed the delay. “We heard that a cargo plane carrying uranium for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant in Bangladesh was scheduled to arrive on September 24. However, the flight was not permitted to use Pakistani airspace, so the uranium did not arrive in Bangladesh as planned,” Anam told ANI. He said Russia has proposed the first week of October for the shipment to reach Bangladesh.

The Pakistan High Commission in Dhaka issued a clarification on Tuesday. It said Islamabad “maintains an unwavering commitment to international diplomatic norms and processes all requests for diplomatic flight and overflight clearances within a standardised, predictable timeframe, strictly in accordance with our established regulatory guidelines and civil aviation protocols.”

It added, “With regard to the reports being quoted, the matter appears to relate to technical and procedural arrangements concerning flight routing and airspace permissions, which can occasionally require coordination among the relevant aviation and other authorities and may result in adjustments to flight schedules,” according to ANI.

The High Commission said Pakistan “attaches high importance to its relations with Bangladesh”. It urged that the issue be viewed only from a technical perspective and asked against attaching “undue significance to reports or narratives that may seek to misplace it to undermine our bilateral relations.”

The shipment was the first batch of nuclear fuel meant for Unit-2 of the Rooppur plant. An official cited by The Daily Star said the cargo was scheduled to fly over Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Pakistan and India before reaching Bangladesh. The lack of Pakistani airspace clearance forced a postponement.

Rosatom’s public relations representatives told The Daily Star that fuel deliveries for the second unit would restart in October through an alternative route. “The remaining fuel batches bound for Bangladesh will arrive by December across seven separate cargo flights,” the spokesperson said.

Rosatom said fuel deliveries for Unit-2 would begin in October and continue through December, with the supplies expected to be completed by the end of the year. Fuel deliveries for Unit-1 were completed in 2023.

Located along the Padma River in Pakshi Union of Ishwardi Upazila in Pabna District, Rooppur is Bangladesh’s first nuclear power plant. The Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission oversees the project, while Russia’s Rosatom provides technical assistance. The facility is being built with two third-generation VVER-1200 reactors, which are designed to produce a combined 2,400 MW of baseload electricity.