Pakistani International Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in Islamabad, Pakistan, on March 15, 2022. (Rahmat Gul / AP)
NEW DELHI --
India's defence minister mentioned Tuesday the nation's missile techniques had been "very dependable and protected" after one was unintentionally fired final week and landed in a residential space inside nuclear-armed rival Pakistan.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh instructed Indian lawmakers a proper inquiry was ordered to find out the reason for the firing in addition to a assessment of the usual procedures for operations, inspections and upkeep of its weapons techniques. Any shortcomings can be fastened instantly, he added, however didn't say which missile was mistakenly launched.
Pakistan and India have a historical past of bitter relations since gaining independence from British rule in 1947.
Pakistan mentioned the unarmed surface-to-surface missile violated Pakistan's airspace and broken a wall in a residential space in Punjab province on Wednesday. No casualties had been reported.
Anger over the misfiring has grown in Islamabad, the place officers have demanded a joint investigation.
"The grave nature of the incident raises a number of basic questions relating to safety protocols and technical safeguards in opposition to unintentional or unauthorized launch of missiles in a nuclearized atmosphere," the international ministry mentioned in a press release on Saturday. It demanded India launch extra particulars and why India failed to instantly inform Pakistan afterward.
Pakistan's international minister additionally raised the problem with UN Secretary-Common Antonio Guterres by phone Monday, the place he confused the necessity for the worldwide group, together with the Safety Council, to deal with the scenario.
Earlier, Maj. Gen. Babar Iftikhar mentioned Pakistan's air power tracked the missile from its launch and all through its three-minute flight in Pakistan's airspace. He protested the "flagrant violation" and demanded an evidence from India, saying civilians might have been endangered.
Two days after the launch, India's defence ministry mentioned the missile was fired accidentally as a consequence of a technical malfunction throughout routine upkeep.
"Whereas the incident is deeply regrettable, it is usually a matter of reduction that there was no lack of life as a result of accident," India mentioned final week.
Relations between the 2 South Asian powers have been particularly strained since 2019, when Pakistan's air power shot down an Indian warplane within the Pakistan-administered part of Kashmir, and captured a pilot in response to an airstrike by Indian plane concentrating on militants within the northwestern city of Balakot inside Pakistan.
India on the time mentioned its airstrikes focused Pakistan-based militants chargeable for a suicide bombing that killed 40 Indian troops in Indian-controlled Kashmir. Pakistan later launched the pilot.
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