Pakistan has refused a request by India to allow President Ram Nath Kovind to use its airspace for his flight to Iceland, its foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Saturday.

Kovind will leave for a visit to Iceland, Switzerland and Slovenia on Monday during which he is expected to brief the top leadership in those countries about India's 'national concerns', especially in view of terror incidents this year, such as the Pulwama attack.

The decision was approved by Prime Minister Imran Khan in view of the tense situation in Kashmir, the minister told state broadcaster PTV.

Khan's government was under pressure from the Opposition and some ministers to impose the airspace restriction on India after Delhi revoked the special status of Kashmir.

Qureshi said Delhi's tough stance on Kashmir was a serious issue which he would take up with the United Nations Human Rights Council.

He noted that 34 days had elapsed since India had imposed restrictions in Kashmir before revoking the region's special status on August 5.

Pakistan had fully closed its airspace in February after a reported Indian Air Force strike on a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror camp in Balakot. The country opened its airspace for all flights except for New Delhi, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur on March 27.

On May 15, Pakistan extended its airspace ban for flights to India till May 30. It fully opened its airspace for all civilian traffic on July 16.

Pakistan has already suspended trade with India and stopped the train and bus services after August 5.

India has categorically told the international community that the scrapping of special status of Jammu and Kashmir was an internal matter and also advised Pakistan to accept this reality.