Pakistan demands joint probe into accidental missile firing by India

Vishal Thapar Mar 13, 2022

Pakistan has demanded a joint probe into the accidental firing of a missile by the Indian military into Pakistan on March 9.

Following India’s March 11 acknowledgement of the accidental firing due to technical malfunction, Pakistan has raised the issue of security protocols and technical safeguards against accidental or unauthorized launch of missiles in a nuclearized environment.

The Pakistan Foreign Office summoned India’s Charge d’Affaires in Islamabad for the second time over this incident and told that a joint probe was required “in order to accurately establish the facts surrounding the incident”.

Expressing “serious concern”, Pakistan stated that “the Indian decision to hold an internal court of inquiry was not sufficient since the missile ended up in Pakistani territory”.

“The Cd’A was asked to convey to the Government of India that such serious matters could not be addressed with simplistic explanations as offered by the Indian authorities,” the spokesperson of Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated.

“The Charge d’ Affaires was further told that Pakistan expects satisfactory response to and clarification of several fundamental questions regarding security protocols and technical safeguards against accidental or unauthorized launch of missiles in a nuclearized environment,” the spokesperson added in a late night statement on March 12.

India’s Ministry of Defence admitted that “in the course of routine maintenance, a technical malfunction led to the accidental firing of a missile”. It termed the incident “deeply regrettable” and expressed relief that it did not result in loss of life in Pakistan.

Pakistan claimed to have tracked the launch of a “supersonic projectile” from Sirsa and its flight path till it fell in the Mian Channu area of Pakistani Punjab. Pakistan stated that the missile was unarmed.

While India did not specify the missile which was fired accidentally, Pakistani accounts suggested that it could have been the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile.