India says it accidentally fired missile into Pakistan
Both countries have called for a high-level investigation into the ‘regrettable’ incident
INDIA has admitted it fired a missile into Pakistan following a “regrettable technical malfunction”, prompting Islamabad to threaten New Delhi with “unpleasant consequences”.
The missile struck a residential structure at the Mian Channu area of Khanewal district in Pakistan on Wednesday. The civilians living in that area escaped unhurt.
“On Mar 9, in the course of routine maintenance, a technical malfunction led to the accidental firing of a missile. The government of India has taken a serious view and ordered a high-level court of inquiry. It is learnt that the missile landed in an area of Pakistan,” India’s Ministry of Defence said.
Official sources said that it was a Brahmos supersonic cruise missile, one of the most dependable long-range cruise missiles in India’s arsenal, with a range of over 400km.
Islamabad on Thursday reported that an unarmed supersonic missile fired by India had violated Pakistan’s airspace.
“On Mar 9, at 6.43pm, a high-speed flying object was picked up inside the Indian territory by Air Defence Operations Centre of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF),” Pakistan’s military spokesman Major General Babar Iftikhar told the media in Islamabad.
“It was a supersonic flying object, most probably a missile, but it was certainly unarmed,” said Major Iftikhar.
It suddenly manoeuvred towards Pakistani territory from its initial course and violated Pakistan’s airspace, ultimately falling near Mian Channu at 6.50pm, he said.
Yesterday, Islamabad’s Foreign Office summoned the Indian envoy to condemn the unprovoked violation of its airspace, saying such “irresponsible incidents” reflected the neighbouring country’s “disregard for air safety and callousness towards regional peace and stability”.
It also called for a thorough and transparent investigation of the incident, the results of which should be shared with Pakistan.
Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Pakistan’s foreign minister, said his country would decide its next step after receiving India’s explanation.
“The envoys of P-5 countries (permanent members of the United Nations Security Council) would be called to the Foreign Office and briefed about the incident,” he said.
Military experts have in the past warned of the risk of accidents or miscalculations by the nuclear neighbours, which have fought three wars and have engaged in numerous military clashes, most recently in 2019, which saw the air forces of the two engage in combat.
Pakistan’s National Security Adviser (NSA) said yesterday that it was “highly irresponsible” of India not to inform Pakistan immediately of the inadvertent launch of a missile that fell inside Pakistan.
“The real circumstances surrounding this incident must also be investigated to ascertain if this was an inadvertent launch or something more intentional,” NSA Moeed Yusuf said on Twitter.