India admits to ‘accidentally’ firing missile into Pakistan

This is ‘regrettable’ but also a matter of relief that there has been no loss of life, says Indian defence ministry

ISLAMABAD:

India on Friday admitted that it accidentally fired a missile into Pakistan and ordered a high-level court of inquiry into the incident that could have led to a major disaster or misunderstanding between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

"On March 9, 2022, in the course of a routine maintenance, a technical malfunction led to the accidental firing of a missile," read a statement issued by the Indian defence ministry in New Delhi.

"The Government of India has taken a serious view and ordered a high-level Court of Enquiry," it further said.

"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," read the communiqué.

The explanation from the Indian government comes a day after the DG ISPR revealed at a news conference that an unarmed "high-speed flying object" was fired from India's Sirsa area into Pakistan that landed in Punjab province's Mian Chunnu on Wednesday. It was initially thought it might be a plane crash.

Read more: Pakistan seeks answer from India after 'supersonic missile' crashes near Mian Chunnu

Giving details, the DG ISPR said: “On 9 Mar 2022 at 6:43 PM a high-speed flying object was picked up inside Indian Territory by Air Defence Operations Center of PAF. From its initial course, the object suddenly maneuvered towards Pakistani Territory and violated Pak Air Space ultimately falling near Mian Channu at 6:50 PM also damaging some civilian property.”

“Thankfully, no loss or injury to human life was caused,” he added.

He said PAF continuously monitored the complete flight path of the flying object from its point of origin Sirsa in India till its point of impact near Mian Channu and initiated requisite tactical actions in accordance with SOPs.

“It is important to highlight that flight path of this object endangered many International and domestic passenger flights both in Indian and Pakistani airspace as well as human life and property on ground,” Major General Babar said.

“Whatever caused this incident to happen, it is for the Indians to explain. It nevertheless shows their disregard for aviation safety and reflects very poorly on their technological prowess and procedural efficiency. The incident could have resulted in a major aviation disaster as well as civilian casualties on ground,” he said.

Also read: FM Qureshi seeks clarification from India on 'flying object'

Asked for more details about the object, he said "we are not claiming anything right now". "As a responsible nation, we will wait for India to respond. We have given details of whatever we know right now. But it is for the Indians to explain what happened in Mian Channu."

He said Pakistan strongly protested this flagrant violation and cautioned against recurrence of any such incident in future.

Air Vice Marshall Tariq Zia told journalists that at the time this projectile was picked up, there were two airway routes active and several commercial airlines in the area. "If you look at the speed and height of the projectile, it was 40,000 feet high, and the airlines were between 35,000 to 42,000 feet. This could have been very detrimental to the safety of passengers."

Air Vice Marshall Tariq Zia, speaking on the occasion, said that the object travelled 124 kilometers in Pakistan and remained in Pakistani airspace for three minutes.

He said that it was a supersonic missile but further investigation in this regard was underway.

Pakistan had also summoned the Indian envoy to record a strong protest over the incident and seek explanation earlier in the day.