Technical Glitch, Says India After Firing Missile Into Pakistan; Probe Ordered

After reports of missile fired from Indian side landing in Pakistan surfaced on Friday, the defence ministry ordered a high level inquiry. In a statement, the defence ministry cited 'technical malfunction' as the cause for accident.

"On 9 March 2022, in the course of routine maintenance, a technical malfunction led to the accidental firing of a missile. The Government of India has taken a serious view and ordered a high-level Court of Enquiry," the defence ministry said in a statement.

"While the incident is deeply regrettable, it is also a matter of relief that there has been no loss of life due to the accident," the ministry further said in its statement.  

The missile flew over 100 km inside the Pakistani airspace. However, since there was no warhead on the missile, it did not detonate, the NDTV reported.

On Thursday, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar called a press conference and briefed the media about this incident which happened earlier this week.  

Iftikhar said a 'high-speed flying object' was picked up inside the Indian territory by Air Defence Operations Centre of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF). He said the object manoeuvred towards the Pakistani territory and violated Pakistan's air space. It fell near Mian Channu, around 500 kms away from capital Islamabad. 

"It was a supersonic flying object, most probably a missile, but it was certainly unarmed," he was quoted by Pakistani news outlet The Dawn. He also sought an explanation from the Indian government  on the incident, which he said risked Pakistani as well as Indian flights.  

The Indian envoy in Pakistan was also summoned, according to reports, to register Pakistan's protest over the incident.  

In a 'warning' to its neighbour, Pakistan said India should be "mindful of the unpleasant consequences of such negligence and take effective measures to avoid the recurrence of such violations in future".