Pakistan seeks joint probe into Indian missile fiasco

FO says Delhi’s internal court of inquiry order not sufficient

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan on Saturday sought a joint probe to accurately establish the facts surrounding the “accidental” firing of an Indian missile into its territory, saying that an internal court of inquiry ordered by New Delhi was not sufficient.

“Pakistan calls upon the international community to take serious notice of this incident of grave nature in a nuclearised environment and play its due role in promoting strategic stability in the region,” the Foreign Office said in a statement issued in response to the Indian admission of firing a missile into Pakistan.
The detailed statement contains a list of questions for India to answer.

“We have taken note of the press statement by the Indian Press Information Bureau’s Defence Wing regretting the ‘accidental firing’ of the Indian-origin missile into Pakistani territory on March 9, 2022 due to 'technical malfunction' and decision to hold an internal Court of Inquiry,” the statement read.

It said the grave nature of the incident raised several fundamental questions regarding security protocols and technical safeguards against the accidental or unauthorised launch of missiles in a nuclearised environment.

Such a serious matter cannot be addressed with the simplistic explanation proffered by the Indian authorities. Some of the questions that need to be answered include:

• India must explain the measures and procedures in place to prevent accidental missile launches and the particular circumstances of this incident.

• India needs to clearly explain the type and specifications of the missile that fell in Pakistani territory.

• India also needs to explain the flight path/ trajectory of the accidentally launched missile and how it ultimately turned and entered Pakistan?

• Was the missile equipped with self-destruct mechanism? Why did it fail to actualise?

• Are Indian missiles kept primed for launch even under routine maintenance?

• Why did India fail to immediately inform Pakistan about the accidental launch of the missile and waited to acknowledge it till after Pakistan announced the incident and sought clarification?

• Given the profound level of incompetence, India needs to explain if the missile was indeed handled by its armed forces or some rogue elements?

“The whole incident indicates many loopholes and technical lapses of serious nature in Indian handling of strategic weapons,” the statement noted.

“Indian decision to hold an internal court of inquiry is not sufficient since the missile ended up in Pakistani territory. Pakistan demands a joint probe to accurately establish the facts surrounding the incident,” it said.

Read: India admits to ‘accidentally’ firing missile into Pakistan

The FO said given the short distances and response times, any misinterpretation by the other side could lead to countermeasures in self-defence with grave consequences.

Indian admission

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

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

The explanation from the Indian government came a day after Inter-Services Public Relations Director General Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar revealed that an unarmed "high-speed flying object" was fired from India's Sirsa area into Pakistan that landed in Punjab province's Mian Channu on Wednesday. It was initially thought it might be a plane crash.

Giving details, the ISPR DG had said: “On Mar 9, 2022 at 6:43pm 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 manoeuvred towards Pakistani territory and violated Pak airspace ultimately falling near Mian Channu at 6:50pm also damaging some civilian property.”

Maj Gen Babar said, “Thankfully, no loss or injury to human life was caused.”

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 the 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,” Maj Gen Babar said.