India says 'accidentally' fired missile into Pakistan

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India said on Friday it had accidentally fired a missile this week into an area of Pakistan due to a "technical malfunction" during a routine maintenance, giving its version of events after Pakistan summoned India's envoy to protest.

"On 9 March 2022, in the course of a routine maintenance, a technical malfunction led to the accidental firing of a missile," the Indian Ministry of Defence said in a three-paragraph statement.

"It is learnt 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, the ministry said adding that the government took "a serious view and ordered a high-level Court of Enquiry".

The nuclear-armed neighbors have fought three wars and engaged in several small armed clashes in the past, leading military experts to warn of the consequences of such accidents.  

Tensions have recently eased though, and the said incident may have been the first of its kind, raised questions immediately about safety procedures.

As for Pakistan, officials from the country commented by saying the missile was unarmed and crashed near the eastern city of Mian Channu, over 500 km (310 miles) from Islamabad.

Pakistan's foreign office called India's charge d'affaires in Islamabad to protest over what it described as an unprovoked violation of its airspace, saying that the incident could have put passenger flights and civilian lives at risk.

Consequently, Pakistan warned India "to be mindful of the unpleasant consequences of such negligence and take effective measures to avoid the recurrence of such violations in future".

A senior Pakistani security official told Reuters, on the condition of anonymity, that the incident sounded an alarm and could have turned into a "critical untoward situation".

"The admission that it was a missile was very nonchalant," he said. "What does this say about their safety mechanisms and the technical prowess of very dangerous weapons? The international community needs to have a very close look at this."

The official said it was possibly a BrahMos missile, and according to the US-based Arms Control Association, its range is between 300 km (186 miles) and 500 km (310 miles), making it capable of hitting the Pakistani capital from a northern Indian launch pad.

He wondered whether the incident meant that India had "missiles in ready-to-launch positions and pointed at Pakistan, and that too without any safeguard of a command and control system".

Happymon Jacob, a professor of international studies at New Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University, said both sides dealt with the situation well.

"It gives me great hope that the 2 nuclear weapon states dealt with the missile incident in a mature manner," he wrote on Twitter. "New Delhi should offer to pay compensation for the Pak house that was destroyed."