Due to technical malfunction India accidentally fired a missile into Pakistan territory. India now says that the incident is “deeply regretted”.
“On 9 March 2022, 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 Enquiry,” the defence ministry said in a statement.
It added that the missile landed in an area of Pakistan and the incident is “deeply regrettable”.
Pakistan’s Foreign Office said, the Indian diplomat has been informed about the alleged violation of airspace through a ‘flying Indian supersonic object’. This object had entered Pakistan from Suratgarh in India at 6.43 pm. The missile hit the ground in Pakistan’s Mian Chunnu town of Punjab province at 6.50 pm on the same day, causing damage to civilian property.
The Foreign Office said, the Indian diplomat was informed that the indiscriminate release of this flying object not only caused damage to civilian property but also posed a threat to human life. He said that it also threatened several domestic/international flights in Pakistan’s airspace and could have caused a serious plane crash. Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi also expressed concern over the incident. .
Qureshi alleged that India put the lives of innocent people in danger by violating Pakistan’s airspace. This could have affected domestic flights along with Saudi and Qatar airline flights. Pakistan said that after India’s clarification, it will decide the next step. Envoys of P-5 countries (China, France, Russia, Britain and America) will be called to the State Department and informed about the incident.
Air Vice Marshal Tariq Zia said the two airways were active and many commercial flights were also in Pakistani territory when India fired missile. Pakistan says, if we look at the speed and height of the Indian supersonic object, it was at an altitude of 40 thousand feet and passenger flights remain between 35 and 42 thousand feet. In such a situation, it could have been a big threat to the safety of the passengers.
