Amid already tense geopolitical situation in the world, Pakistan warned India of ‘unpleasant consequences’ and has claimed that an unarmed supersonic missile landed on its soil from India. The country claimed that a missile, which was cruising at a height of 40,000ft put passengers’ lives in dangers who were in Indian and Pakistani airspace along with property and civilians on Pakistani soil.
On Thursday evening, Pakistan Major General Babar Iftikhar held a press conference in which he was quoted saying, “a high-speed flying object was picked up inside Indian flying territory by Air Defence Operations Centre of the Pakistani Air Force. From its initial course the object suddenly maneuvered towards Pakistani territory and violated Pakistan’s airspace ultimately falling near Mia Channu.”
On Friday, Pakistan issued a statement regarding the incident which read, “Pakistan in a statement asked India “to be mindful of the unpleasant consequences of such negligence and take effective measures to avoid the recurrence off such violations in future.” So far, the Ministry of External Affairs have not issued a statement in response to Pakistan’s claims.
The Facts of the Matter
India and Pakistan, two countries that have had flimsy diplomatic ties, and have indulged in full-scale wars, are once again on the brink of a conflict. On Thursday, Pakistan’s Major General held a hurried and frantic press conference in which he alleged that an unarmed supersonic object from India fell on its soil. He also claimed that the object endangered the lives of those who were flying on the Indian and Pakistani airspace.
Pakistan Major General Babar Iftikhar
Unarmed Missile Endangered Passenger Flights: Pak
“On 9th of March, 2022, at 18.43hrs a high-speed flying object was picked up inside the Indian territory by air defence operations centre of Pakistan Air Force. From its initial course, the object suddenly manoeuvred towards Pakistani territory and violated Pakistan’s airspace, ultimately falling near Mian Channu at 18.50hrs,” Major General Babar Iftikhar was quoted saying in a Dawn report.
“It is important to highlight that flight path of this object endangered many international and domestic passenger flights both in Indian and Pakistani air space as well as human life and property on the ground,” he further added.
India, Pak Signed Missile Notification Pact in 2005
For the unversed, India and Pakistan struck an agreement in 2005 on pre-notifying flight testing of missiles. According to the agreement, either of the country has to notify the other country about any such tests three days prior to the test, be it a surface-to-surface, land or sea missile test.
According to an Indian Express report, the agreement also clearly mentions that the sites must not be in 40km of the LoC and the impact area of the test must not fall within 75 km of the International Boundary or LOC.
Also Read: Man Nabbed with 43 Horned Lizards and 9 Snakes Under his Clothing by Customs Officers
Pakistan Seeks Thorough & Transparent Investigation Report
According to reports, no casualties were reported from the incident, however, a wall was reported to have suffered damage. “The Indian diplomat was conveyed that the imprudent launch of the flying object not only caused damage to civilian property but also put at risk human lives on ground,” the Pakistan foreign offices statement read.
Pakistan has sought a thorough and transparent investigation of the incident, something it considers to be a “blatant violation of Pakistani airspace in contravention of the established international norms and aviation safety protocols”. It has also sought that India must share its investigation report’s outcome.
Pak Issues warning on “Unpleasant Consequences”
Meanwhile, Pakistan also issued a warning to Indian government and cautioned India “to be mindful of the unpleasant consequences of such negligence and take effective measures to avoid the recurrence off such violations in future.”
Follow Us on Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube
