Pakistan Demands Answers From India Over Missile Firing

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has expressed dissatisfaction over the Indian government's official statement on what it called “accidental firing” of the Indian origin missile into Pakistani territory on 9th March 2022, and asked India to answer technical questions and demanded a joint probe to accurately establish the facts surrounding the incident. Pakistan also called upon the international community to take serious notice of this incident of grave nature.

“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 9 March 2022, and decided to hold an internal Court of Inquiry, “ Foreign Office Spokesman, Asim Iftikhar Ahmed said in an official statement.

The spokesman said such a serious matter cannot be addressed with the simplistic explanation proffered by the Indian authorities and some of the questions that need to be answered by India which include; India must explain the measures and procedures in place to prevent accidental missile launches and the particular circumstances of this incident.

He said that India needs to clearly explain the type and specifications of the missile that fell in Pakistani territory, and explain the flight path/ trajectory of the accidentally launched missile and how it ultimately turned and entered into Pakistan?

He questioned, why did the missile’s self-destruct mechanism fail to actualize, and whether Indian missiles kept primed for launch even under routine maintenance?

FO spokesman also questioned, 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?

He also demanded of the Indian government to explain if the missile was indeed handled by its armed forces or some rogue elements. He said the whole incident indicates many loopholes and technical lapses of serious nature in the Indian handling of strategic weapons.

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

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

“Pakistan, therefore, 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 spokesman demanded.

Meanwhile, Pakistan called Charge d’Affaires of India at Foreign Office and conveyed its serious concerns on the press statement issued by the Indian Press Information Bureau’s Defence Wing regarding the “accidental firing” of the Indian missile into Pakistani territory and the decision to hold an internal court of inquiry.

According to the Foreign Office spokesman, the Indian diplomat was asked to convey to his government in New Delhi that such serious matters could not be addressed with simplistic explanations as offered by the Indian authorities.

The Charge d’ Affaires was further told that Pakistan expects a satisfactory response to and clarification of several fundamental questions regarding security protocols and technical safeguards against the accidental or unauthorized launch of missiles in a nuclearized environment.