Pak summons India's diplomat over alleged violation of airspace

Pakistan on Friday summoned Indias Charge dAffaires here and conveyed its strong protest over the alleged unprovoked violation of its airspace by an Indian missile and sought a thorough and transparent investigation into the incident that could have resulted in a serious aviation accidentThe Indian diplomat who was summoned to the Foreign Office was told about the alleged violation of its airspace by an Indianorigin iquestsupersonic flying objectiquest which entered into Pakistan from Suratgarh in India at 643 PM local time on March 9 the Foreign Office said in a statementThe object later fell on the ground near Mian Chunnu city in Pakistans Punjab province at around 650 PM on the same day causing damage to civilian propertyIn New Delhi Indias defence ministry on Friday said a technical malfunction in the course of a routine maintenance led to the accidental firing of a missile on March 9The ministry said the missile landed in an area of Pakistan and noted that the incident is deeply regrettableThe Defence Ministry said the Government of India has taken a serious view of the incident and ordered a highlevel Court of Enquiry into itIn Islamabad Pakistans Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi also voiced concern over the incidentIn a statement Qureshi alleged that India had endangered innocent lives by violating Pakistans airspace as flights of Saudi and Qatar airlines as well as domestic flights could have been hitHe said Pakistan would decide its next step after receiving Indias explanation adding that envoys of P5 countries China France Russia the United Kingdom and the United States will be called to the Foreign Office and briefed about the incidentIndia will have to be answerable for this he saidAir Vice Marshall Tariq Zia who addressed a press conference on Thursday said that at the time the projectile was picked up by the Pakistani military there were two active airway routes and several commercial airlines were in the areaIf you look at the speed and height of the projectile it was 40000 feet high and the airlines were between 35000 to 42000 feet This could have been very detrimental to the safety of passengersThe projectile travelled 124 kilometres inside Pakistani territory in three minutes and 44 seconds he addedThe FO also said the flight path of the flying object endangered several domesticinternational flights within the Pakistani airspace and could have resulted in a serious aviation accident as well as civilian casualties it saidiquestThe Indian CdA was told to convey to the Government of India Pakistans strong condemnation of this blatant violation of Pakistani airspace in contravention of the established international norms and aviation safety protocolsiquest the FO saidPakistan also asked India for a thorough and transparent investigation of the incident the outcome of which must be shared with itMoreover the Government of India is cautioned to be mindful of the unpleasant consequences of such negligence and take effective measures to avoid the recurrence of such violations in future said the FOSeparately Pakistan Army spokesman Major General Babar Iftikhar said that on March 9 a hispeed flying object was picked up inside the Indian territory by the Air Defence Operations Center of the Pakistan Air ForceiquestPakistan strongly protests this flagrant violation and cautions against recurrence of any such incident in futureiquest he saidiquestPakistan Air Force 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 standard operating proceduresiquest he saidTies between India and Pakistan nosedived after a terror attack on the Pathankot Air Force base in 2016 by terror groups based in the neighbouring country Subsequent attacks including one on an Indian Army camp in Uri further deteriorated the relationshipThe relationship deteriorated further after India announced withdrawing the special powers of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcation of the state into two union territories in August 2019Indias move to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir in 2019 outraged Pakistan which downgraded diplomatic ties and expelled the Indian High Commissioner in Islamabad It also snapped all air and land links with India and suspended trade and railway servicesIndia has said that it desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan in an environment free of terror hostility and violenceThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever