India, Dec. 1 -- The Indian government cleared Pakistan's request for use of Indian airspace to ferry humanitarian aid to cyclone-hit Sri Lanka within four hours on Monday, people familiar with the matter said, rubbishing reports from Islamabad that New Delhi refused to grant overflight.

The official request from Pakistan for overflight was submitted to the Indian side at 1 pm IST on Monday, seeking permission to fly through Indian airspace on the same day, the people said on condition of anonymity.

Since the issue pertained to humanitarian aid for Sri Lanka, the Indian government expeditiously cleared the request and informed the Pakistan government about this through official channels at 5.30 pm IST, the people said.

"The request was...