NEW DELHI: Air travel remained severely crippled in West Asia – from the UAE to Israel – with around 1,600 flights cancelled by the region’s airlines like Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways till Sunday evening across all global routes. Indian carriers like IndiGo, Air India and Akasa cancelled 350 flights during the day, according to the aviation ministry.Most airlines have already announced cancellations till Monday. Resumption depends on when carriers deem flights to be safe in the war-zone.

Late Sunday, however, Air India announced “flights to North America and Europe will operate using alternative routes over available airspaces in West Asia which is expected to add to the flying times”. In a statement, it added, “Flights to New York (JFK) and Newark (Liberty International) will operate with technical stops at Rome (Fiumicino Airport).” With Pakistan airspace closed for Indian carriers, they can’t fly Pakistan-Afghanistan-CIS to the west – the route followed by Lufthansa and other western airlines.Air India cancelled around 125 international flights to and from the West on Sunday. The Tatas-owned carrier made it clear that it has extended suspension of flights to and from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Qatar until 11.59 pm on March 2. “Additionally, select flights to Europe scheduled on March 2 have been cancelled, along with the scheduled return legs of these flights (AI117: Amritsar- Birmingham; AI151/AI152: Delhi to and from Zurich; AI157/AI158: Delhi to and from Copenhagen and AI114 Birmingham-Delhi.“IndiGo also announced “suspension of select international flights that use West Asia airspace until March 2, 2026, 11.59pm IST”.For most airlines, the first priority is to get aircraft and crew stuck at foreign airports back home. Air India completed that task for its wide-body aircraft on Sunday and is looking at operating Europe, UK and North America (US, Canada with fuelling stops in Vienna or Rome) through the oceanic route in Oman’s south, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Ditto on the way back.Abu Dhabi has taken an exceptional step by asking its hotels to extend stays of guests stuck due to flight cancellations. “The cost of the extended stay will be covered by DCT,” its department of culture and tourism (DCT) said in a circular.Some stranded Indians are looking at driving from the UAE to Muscat and then flying home from there. However, the Indian embassy in Muscat issued an advisory on Sunday that “prior visit/tourist visa (e-visa) is required to enter Oman”.Indians holding valid visa or residence permit from the US, UK, Canada, Japan, or Schengen countries can apply for on-arrival visa, it said.

Mohammad Hafeez, the former Pakistan captain, lashes out with an all-out attack on the cricket governing body of the nation. It is believed that Hafeez targets Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Mohsin Naqvi through the comments.

The early exit of the Pakistan cricket team from the T20 World Cup 2026, even before qualifying for the semi-finals, attracted a lot of criticism. While former cricketers like Shoaib Akhtar showed open support to Mohsin Naqvi, who is also the interior minister of Pakistan, a few others like Mohammad Hafeez refused to hold back and issued some fiery statements against the cricket authority of the nation.

Mohammad Hafeez unleashed an all-out attack on the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)

While talking on Tapmad, the former Pakistan cricketer clearly said that Pakistan cricket badly needs a character, a character who can act like a leader who can lead cricket in the nation from the front. According to Hafeez, the current set-up of PCB is surrounded by some job seekers, with job-seekers, Pakistan will make the same mistake instead of taking progressive steps for the betterment of the game.

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“Let me put it to you like this, who’s going to go and actually want to work for Pakistan cricket now? Everyone would want to, if they’re given respect, if they’re given authority”, Mohammad Hafeez expressed.

Hafeez wants to see the ‘job-seekers’ off the board

“But if you’re running things with job-seekers, all the evidence from the past is coming out, this won’t get fixed by job-seekers… You need a character. And that character has to come from within the leadership. Leadership isn’t about taking credit, it’s about taking responsibility,” he further added.

The 45-year-old suggests that posing for photo sessions after winning a match will not work for the team’s progression. To take the team forward, someone needs to take the responsibility, who can openly take liabilities for every decision.

Someone needs to take the responsibilities, Mohammad Hafeez suggested

He observed that neither from the board nor from the players was there to take the responsibility. The acceptance is missing, Hafeez assessed. He also believed that one would put up their hand to do the job, and there would be a blame game as before.

“Those people who go around posing for pictures after a win, where are they today? Will they accept this failure? Will they come forward and say, ‘Yes, we took the decisions, and we made mistakes’? No one will do that. It’s never happened. Blame will be shifted. For me, the real issue is this: you’ll only move towards success when you accept your mistakes”, the former captain strongly mentioned the facts.

“The first step towards success is acceptance of failure —acknowledging, ‘Look, I’m making mistakes here. I’m not getting it right. I will resolve the issues I have.’ That acceptance is not there. It’s not coming from the administration, and it’s not coming from the players either,” Mohammad Hafeez concluded.

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NEW DELHI: PM Narendra Modi on Sunday spoke with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and condemned the attacks on the nation, in his first conversation with any Gulf leader since the US and Israel launched military strikes on Iran.“Spoke with President of the UAE, my brother Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Strongly condemned the attacks on the UAE and condoled the loss of lives in these attacks. India stands in solidarity with the UAE in these difficult times,” said Modi, while thanking him for taking care of the Indian community in the UAE. Modi didn’t name Iran, which has launched hundreds of projectiles at the UAE in retaliation for the US-Israel strikes that resulted in the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

External affairs minister S Jaishankar had reached out to his counterparts from all GCC countries — Kuwait, Bahrain, the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Oman — to share India’s concerns over the rapidly deteriorating security situation in the Gulf and discuss the well-being of the Indian community in the region.Modi also took stock of the West Asia situation at a Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) meeting late Sunday after his return to Delhi. The CCS is the highest decision-making body on issues relating to national security and defence.However, with airspace closed across the region, and road travel deemed unsafe, govt advised Indian nationals in Iran and other places to exercise utmost caution and follow local security guidance.Evacuation in any case is going to be a complex affair with nearly 10 million Indian nationals spread across the Gulf. India is hoping the aerial attacks will subside in the next few days, though they intensified on Sunday with the killing of Khamenei.The Indian embassy in UAE confirmed an Indian national was injured in an Iranian strike but added the person was out of danger and receiving assistance from hospital authorities. Meanwhile, the Iranian embassy in India called upon “independent and freedom-seeking govts” around the world to strongly condemn the killing of Khamenei and to refrain from remaining silent in the face of “lawlessness and aggression”.India, however, had not expressed condolences till late evening. Russia and China were among a handful of countries that condemned the killing or offered their condolences. India has been forced into a delicate balancing act because of its close ties with both sides — the US-Israel combine and Iran — and this reflected in its Saturday call for restraint and respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states.