Indian missile accident could endanger regional peace: army

Corps commanders urge relevant international forums to take serious view of ‘accidental firing’

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan Army’s top brass on Tuesday urged the relevant international forums to take a serious view of the “accidental firing” of a missile by India despite New Delhi’s public admission that it was a “mistake”.

The corps commanders, who met in Rawalpindi at the General Headquarters, warned that such dangerous incidents could act as a trigger and seriously endanger regional peace and strategic stability.

The unarmed missile fired accidently by India on March 9 travelled 124km inside Pakistani territory and fell in Mian Channu, damaging local properties.

India took 48 hours to admit the mistake only after Pakistan went public with all the details about the missile landing on its side.

Pakistan has sought a joint probe into the missile fiasco that could have led to a major disaster between the two countries.

Presided over by army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, the corps commanders were given a comprehensive briefing on important global/regional developments, internal security situation in the country and progress on Western Border Management Regime.

The forum reviewed with concern, the recent incident of missile firing, claimed as accidental by India, which could have resulted in a major disaster, a statement issued by the Foreign Office read.

It was emphasised that despite Indian acknowledgment of the mistake, relevant international forums must take a serious view of the incident and subject the safety and security protocols of Indian strategic assets to deliberate oversight. Such dangerous incidents can act as a trigger and seriously endanger regional peace and strategic stability.

The COAS lauded the successful ongoing counter-terrorism operations. The forum expressed resolve to take all requisite measures to ensure security of the country. The COAS directed that comprehensive security measures be ensured for peaceful conduct of OIC Council of Foreign Ministers meeting and Pakistan Day Parade.

He appreciated the operational preparedness of the formations and emphasised on mission-oriented training.

The reference to security for the upcoming OIC foreign ministers conference in Islamabad and Pakistan Day Parade is linked to the current political stalemate between the government and the opposition parties.

Both sides have announced their separate public rallies in Islamabad against the backdrop of a pending no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The ruling PTI is scheduled to hold what is termed the biggest-ever public gathering in Islamabad on March 27, with the joint opposition parties announcing their plan to start a long march towards the capital on March 23.

The opposition is planning to stage a sit-in till the voting on the no-confidence motion in the National Assembly, threatening a potential clash with the PTI gathering being planned at famous D-Chowk.

The army chief’s insistence on ensuring foolproof security for the OIC Foreign Ministers Conference and Pakistan Day Parade suggested that the country’s leadership might be in touch with all the stakeholders on the subject.

The head of PML-Q Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain on Tuesday urged the PTI to call off the planned rally, saying that the government of the day should not get involved in street politics. But the government is adamant that it will go ahead with the rally as planned.

A number of foreign ministers from the 57-nation OIC are expected to attend the conference. This is the second meeting of the OIC foreign ministers taking place in Islamabad in the space of three months. The last one though was an extraordinary session meant to discuss the Afghan humanitarian situation but the upcoming conference is a regular one that Pakistan is set to host on his turn after a gap of 15 years.

Read more: No indication Indian missile launch anything other than an accident: US

he event is taking place at a time when the political tensions are running high with the current government facing an uncertain future.

Further, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Tuesday called on the United Nations to demand of India to hold a joint investigation into the “accidental” missile launch, rejecting the Indian move to hold an internal inquiry into the March 9 incident.

"Such a serious matter cannot be addressed with the simplistic explanation proffered by the Indian authorities," the foreign minister said in a letter addressed to UN Security Council President for March, Ambassador Lana Zaki Nusseibeh (UAE), and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in which he shared Pakistan's concerns and demands about the violation of Pakistani airspace by India's "supersonic missile".

Pakistan, he said, strongly condemns this "blatant violation" of its airspace in contravention of international aviation safety protocols.

"Such irresponsible incidents are also reflective of India's disregard for air safety and callous approach towards regional peace and stability. This missile incident is consistent with India's irresponsible conduct and deserves to be addressed by the international community and especially the Security Council, with the sense of alarm and urgency which it deserves," FM Qureshi wrote.

The foreign minister's letter is being circulated as an official document of the 15-member Council under two agenda items, ‘The responsibility of the Security Council in the maintenance of international peace and security’ and ‘The India-Pakistan Question’.

The missile, he said, not only caused damage to civilian property but also put at risk human lives on the ground in Pakistan, adding that it could have resulted in a massive accident causing civilian casualties.

"Given the short distances and response times in the Pakistan-India theatre, any misinterpretation by either side of each other's military actions could lead to responses with grave consequences for the region and indeed for the whole world, especially in a nuclearised environment," the foreign minister said.

On Tuesday, National Security Adviser Dr Moeed Yusuf took exception to New Delhi calling for the second time the firing of the missile into Pakistan “accidental”, saying that India’s “indifferent and dismissive” approach to such a sensitive issue was “worrisome”.

Earlier in the day, Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said the country is conducting a review of its standing operating procedures for operations, maintenance and inspection of weapons systems.

“We attach the highest priority to the safety and security of our weapon systems. If any shortcoming is found, it would be immediately rectified,” he told parliament.

In a series of tweets, NSA Yusuf pointed out that the claim made by India for the second time was a “simplistic explanation without evidence” that “is insufficient and should be unacceptable to the world”.

“We remind India and the world that this was a highly sophisticated supersonic missile which could have caused loss of life in Pakistan and resulted in escalation between two nuclear-armed countries.

“Once again, everyone must see for themselves which is the responsible state,” he added. “We all know that such incidents can easily escalate … history is full of such instances.”

The NSA said that Pakistan had once again acted responsibly during the episode to avoid any escalation just like in 2019 when India fighter planes were shot down after “India tried to bomb us”.

“We even voluntarily returned their downed pilot to avoid escalation,” Yusuf recalled.

The NSA said the world should realise that “escalatory actions by India are a pattern, not an exception”.

“This is a classic character of an irresponsible and untrustworthy state when it comes to handling of such sensitive weapons systems.”

Separately, the United States on Monday said it had “no indication” that India’s missile launch into Pakistan last week was “anything other than an accident”.

“We have no indication, as you also heard from our Indian partners, that this incident was anything other than an accident. We refer you, of course, to the Indian Defence Ministry for any follow-up. They issued a statement on March 9 to explain precisely what had happened. We don’t have a comment beyond that,” US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a press briefing.

India had actually issued a statement on March 11, a day after Inter-Services Public Relations Director General Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar highlighted the issue in a news conference and two days after the actual launch of the missile. (With input from news desk)