An accidentally fired Indian missile landed 124km inside Pakistan on Wednesday, according to Dawn newspaper. The unarmed missile entered Pakistan airspace at 6.43pm and crashed at 6.50pm.
India’s Ministry of Defence issued a statement on Friday saying that, “in the course of a routine maintenance, a technical malfunction led to the accidental firing of a missile. The ministry statement added that the incident was, “deeply regrettable,” and added that, “it is also a matter of relief that there has been no loss of life due to the accident.”
Pakistan’s military said the missile fell near Mian Channu in Pakistan Punjab’s Khanewal district.
“It was a supersonic flying object, most probably a missile, but it was certainly unarmed,” the Pakistan Army Inter-Services Public Relations Director General Major General Babar Ifthikar told a media briefing on March 10. He added that Pakistan, “strongly protests this flagrant violation and cautions against recurrence of any such incident in the future.”
The Defence Ministry said in a statement that, “the government of India has taken a serious view of the incident and ordered a high-level Court of Enquiry into it.”
Pakistan’s Foreign Office called in India’s envoy on Thursday to protest over the violation of its airspace and accused India of a, “disregard for air safety and callousness towards regional peace and stability.”
Security analysts in India were shocked about the incident, especially in the light of the fact that India has always been proud of its safety track record. Said analyst Sushant Singh: “India has always prided itself on fool-proof processes and systems which enhance risk mitigation measures. This accidental firing is bound to dent that reputation and raise a lot of questions.”
Pakistan added that the missile was flying at a height that could have endangered air travellers in the vicinity. Said Babar: “It is important to highlight that the flight path of this object endangered many international and domestic flights – both in Indian and Pakistani airspace – as well as human life and property on ground.”
He added that: “From its initial course, the object suddenly manoeuvred towards the Pakistani territory and violated Pakistan’s airspace before ultimately falling near Mian Channu at 6.50pm.” Mian Channu is one of the four tehsils of Khanewal district.
The Print said that the missile was most probably a Brahmos missile. India’s Brahmos missiles can be fired both from surface-to-surface and also from the IAF’s Su 30 MKI jets.