New Delhi: India admitted on Friday that it had accidentally fired a missile into Pakistan on March 9 because of a ‘technical malfunction.’
As Pakistan registered a strong protest over the ‘unprovoked violation’ of its airspace by a ‘super-sonic flying object of Indian origin’, the Indian ordered a high-level court of inquiry into the incident.
“On 9 March 2022, in the course of a routine maintenance, a technical malfunction led to the accidental firing of a missile. It is learnt that the missile landed in an area of Pakistan. While the incident is deeply regrettable, it is also a matter of relief that there has been no loss of life due to the accident,” the Defence ministry said in a statement.
The name of the missile wasn’t mentioned, but experts believe it could have been the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile.
According to Pakistan, the ‘super-sonic flying object’ entered its territory from Suratgarh side in Rajasthan at 6.43 pm (Pakistan time) and came down near Mian Chunnu city at around 6.50 pm.
The Pakistani foreign office said India’s charge d’affaires in Islamabad was summoned on Friday and conveyed that the ‘imprudent launch’ of the flying object caused damage to civilian property and put at risk human lives on ground.
“Besides, the flight path of the flying object endangered several domestic/international flights within Pakistani airspace and could have resulted in a serious aviation accident as well as civilian casualties,” a Pakistani release stated.
