ISLAMABAD – Pakistan demands a joint investigation to accurately establishthe facts surrounding the incident a day after the Indian ministry ofdefence said it accidentally fired a missile.
The Foreign Office on Saturday issued a detailed statement that include alist of questions for New Delhi to answer in light of Indian admission offiring a supersonic missile into Pakistan.
MoFA spokesperson said such an incident had raised several fundamentalquestions about security protocols and technical safeguards against theaccidental or unauthorized launch of missiles in a nuclearised environment.
The statement added that such a serious matter cannot be addressed with thebasic statements and it pointed even questions that need to be answered.
– India must explain the measures and procedures in place to prevent accidental missile launches and the particular circumstances of this incident. – India needs to clearly explain the type and specifications of the missile that fell in Pakistani territory. – India also needs to explain the flight path/ trajectory of the accidentally launched missile and how it ultimately turned and entered Pakistan? – Was the missile equipped with self-destruct mechanism? Why did it fail to actualise? – Are Indian missiles kept primed for launch even under routine maintenance? – Why did India fail to immediately inform Pakistan about the accidental launch of the missile and waited to acknowledge it till after Pakistan announced the incident and sought clarification? – Given the profound level of incompetence, India needs to explain if the missile was indeed handled by its armed forces or some rogue elements?
On Wednesday, a supersonic missile entered Pakistan airspace at 1843 hoursnear Mian Channu at 1850 causing damage to civilian property. Islamabad wasable to detect the missile soon after it was launched in Sirsa in India,104km from the Pakistan border.
Read Top Stories
Pakistan military spokesperson Director General Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar alsoheld a presser briefing that an Indian high-speed flying object had fallenin Mian Channu, Khanewal district.
Meanwhile, National Security Adviser (NSA) Moeed Yusuf raised questions atNew Delhi’s ability to handle sensitive technology, urging the world toconsider whether India was able to ensure the safety and security of itsweapon systems.
He mentioned that it had taken more than two days for Indian officials toaccept that this was their missile launched ostensibly due to a technicalmalfunction during maintenance.
