The foreign ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) haveendorsed Pakistan’s call for a joint probe to establish the factssurrounding the “accidental” firing of a missile into Pakistan from Indiaearlier this month.
In a resolution adopted Wednesday at the culmination of the two-day OICForeign Ministers Summit in the capital Islamabad, the top diplomatsexpressed “serious” concern over the incident, said a statement fromPakistan’s Foreign Ministry.
New Delhi on March 11 acknowledged that “in the course of routinemaintenance, a technical malfunction led to the accidental firing of amissile” on March 9 that landed in the city of Mian Channu in northeasternPunjab province, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the Indian border.
Regretting the incident, India said it had ordered an inquiry into whathappened.
Pakistan, however, demanded a joint probe into the rare incident.
The incident, the resolution said, constituted “multiple violations ofinternational law, the UN Charter, Articles on the Responsibility of Statesfor Internationally Wrongful Acts, civil aviation rules and safetyprotocols, and endangered human life and property, besides posing a gravethreat to regional and international peace, security and stability.”
Calling on India to “fully” abide by its international obligations, theresolution stresses that the duty to protect dangerous arsenals andmaterials and systems related to weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) as wellas to ensure nuclear security is a strict liability obligation underinternational law.
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It further calls on the UN secretary general and relevant internationalbodies, including the UN Security Council and the International CivilAviation Authority (ICAO), to pursue the matter with India, in line withtheir mandated duties, to “accurately establish the facts to prevent suchoccurrences in the future.”
It exhorts the international community to take serious notice of theincident of grave nature in a nuclearized environment and play its role inupholding strategic stability in South Asia.
The foreign ministers urged India to work constructively with Pakistan forenhancing regional security and stability through the settlement ofoutstanding disputes and positively respond to Pakistan’s proposal for aStrategic Restraint Regime, including measures for arms control, restraintand confidence building.
“The OIC Secretary General has been requested to communicate the resolutionto the UN Secretary General and to remain seized of the matter,” thestatement concluded.
