India said on Friday it had accidentally fired a missile into Pakistan this week because of a “technical malfunction” during routine maintenance, giving its version of events after Pakistan summoned India’s envoy to protest.
Pakistani officials said the missile was unarmed and had crashed near the country’s eastern city of Mian Channu, about 500 km (310 miles) from the capital Islamabad.
“On 9 March 2022, in the course of routine maintenance, a technical malfunction led to the accidental firing of a missile,” the government said in a statement.
“It is learned 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.”
Pakistan foreign office said in a statement it summoned on Friday India’s charge d’affaires in Islamabad to lodge a protest over what it said was the unprovoked violation of its airspace. Pakistan called for an investigation of the incident, which it said could have endangered passenger flights and civilian lives.
Pakistan warned India in the statement “to be mindful of the unpleasant consequences of such negligence and take effective measures to avoid the recurrence of such violations in future.”
The two nuclear-armed neighbors have fought three wars and have engaged in numerous military clashes, most recently in 2019 which saw the air forces of the two engage in combat.
Military experts have in the past warned of the risk of accidents or miscalculations by the nuclear-armed neighbors, which have fought three wars and engaged in numerous smaller armed clashes, usually over the disputed territory of Kashmir.
Tensions have eased in recent months, and the incident, which may have been the first of its kind, immediately raised questions about safety mechanisms.
Pakistani officials said the missile was unarmed and had crashed near the country’s eastern city of Mian Channu, about 500 km (310 miles) from the capital Islamabad.
“On 9 March 2022, in the course of routine maintenance, a technical malfunction led to the accidental firing of a missile,” the government said in a statement.
“It is learned 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.”
Pakistan foreign office said in a statement it summoned on Friday India’s charge d’affaires in Islamabad to lodge a protest over what it said was the unprovoked violation of its airspace. Pakistan called for an investigation of the incident, which it said could have endangered passenger flights and civilian lives.
Pakistan warned India in the statement “to be mindful of the unpleasant consequences of such negligence and take effective measures to avoid the recurrence of such violations in future.”
The two nuclear-armed neighbors have fought three wars and have engaged in numerous military clashes, most recently in 2019 which saw the air forces of the two engage in combat.
Military experts have in the past warned of the risk of accidents or miscalculations by the nuclear-armed neighbors, which have fought three wars and engaged in numerous smaller armed clashes, usually over the disputed territory of Kashmir.
Tensions have eased in recent months, and the incident, which may have been the first of its kind, immediately raised questions about safety mechanisms.
