The Indian Air Force (IAF) said April 10 that officials found responsiblefor the operational lapse that resulted in the March 9 misfire of asupersonic cruise missile into Pakistanlink will face a “severe punishment.”
The IAF concluded from its investigation that some officials violatedstandard operating procedures, resulting in the accidental firing of amissile, India link news agencyANI reportedlink,citing unnamed government sources.
“More than one official has been found blameworthy for the incident, whichwas totally avoidable. The guilty officials would be given a swift andsevere punishment,” the government sources were quoted saying in the report.
One of the officials is the commanding officer of the Brahmos unit, a groupcaptain (colonel), according to unnamed sources cited by the Times of Indialink.
“The overall standard operating procedures for the operations, maintenance,and inspections of such missile systems have also been reviewed,” thesources said.
The sources did not specify the nature of the punishment to be meted out tothe officials, but claimed that the IAF inquiry committee report would be“legally vetted” before being submitted to authorities for further action.
On March 11, the Indian Defense Ministry confirmed that it had accidentallyfired a missilelinkintoPakistan’s airspace on March 9, blaming the incident on “a technicalmalfunction” during “routine maintenance.”
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The missile reportedly flew about 77 miles into Pakistan and crashed intoMian Channu, originating from the Indian city of Sirsa. There were nocasualties reported as a result of the incident, but some civilian propertywas damaged.
Pakistan was reportedly prepared to launch a missile in retaliation againstIndia but refrained after identifying an anomaly in the Indian projectileduring “initial assessment,” Bloomberg reportedlinkonMarch 15, citing sources familiar with the matter.
The sources, who spoke to Bloomberg on the condition of anonymity, saidthat India did not inform Pakistan about the incident via a direct hotlinebetween senior army officials of the two nations. Pakistan then reportedthe incident the following day and summoned an Indian diplomat.
“If Pakistan’s Air Force didn’t pick it up inside India and it was matchedwith an accident reaction, do people realize the implications, consequencesof that,” Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told reporters onMarch 15.
Pakistan and India, which both possess nuclear weapons, have clashed overterritory in recent years. The two nations have been embroiled in aconflict over the area of Kashmir for decades. Military experts haverepeatedly warned about the risk of miscalculation or nuclear accidentsbetween the two neighbors.
The two countries came close to a war in February 2019 when Pakistan’s airforce shot down an Indian fighter jet and captured its pilot over Kashmir.The two nations have waged several wars since they gained independence in1947 from British rule.
