NEW DELHI – The Indian government is reviewing its procedures foroperations, maintenance, and inspection of weapons systems days afterfiring a missile into Pakistan, Minister of Defence of India Rajnath Singhsaid while addressing parliament on Tuesday.
Singh, a close aide of Indian PM Modi, said India accidentally released amissile, which landed in Pakistan at about 7 pm during routine maintenanceand inspection without causing any casualties.
He mentioned the highest priority to the safety and security of our weaponsystems, saying that if any shortcoming is found, it would be immediatelycorrected.
Singh continued saying that a high-level inquiry into the accident isunderway. “I can assure the House that the missile system is very reliableand safe,” he added, without mentioning which missile had been accidentallylaunched.
The Indian minister also claimed that Indian forces are ‘well-trained anddisciplined’ and are well ‘experienced’ in handling such systems however,he did not explain why they failed to inform on March 9.
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Islamabad has already lodged a strong protest to New Delhi, summoning itsCharge d’Affaires in Islamabad. It has also sent seven questions to India,calling on New Delhi to come clean about the incident.
India admitted firing the missile as tensions between the two nuclearstates calmed in recent months. Islamabad also reacted with a low-keyresponse to what the Modi administration termed as a “technicalmalfunction.”
A Pakistan foreign office statement said it was an “irresponsibleincident,” reflecting India’s “disregard for air safety and callousnesstowards regional peace and stability.”
