India said on Friday it had accidentally fired a missile into Pakistan this week because of a “technical malfunction” during routine maintenance giving its version of events after Pakistan summoned India’s envoy to protest and warned of the unpleasant consequences.
The nuclear-armed and antagonistic neighbours have fought three wars over the Himalayan disputed region of Kashmir and administer parts of it.
Tensions have eased in recent months after armies of both countries announced a sudden and rare reaffirmation of a 2003 ceasefire agreement in March 2021 pledging to bring a halt to violence that killed at least 74 people in 2020 alone.
“On 9 March 2022, in the course of a routine maintenance, a technical malfunction led to the accidental firing of a missile,” the Indian Ministry of Defence said in a three-paragraph statement.
“It is learnt that the missile landed in an area of Pakistan. 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 said the government had “taken a serious view and ordered a high-level Court of Enquiry”.
Pakistani officials said the missile was unarmed and had crashed near the country’s eastern city of Mian Channu, about 500 km (310 miles) from capital Islamabad.
Pakistan’s foreign office summoned India’s charge of the affairs in Islamabad to lodge a protest over what it called an unprovoked violation of its airspace, saying the incident could have endangered passenger flights and civilian lives.
One senior Pakistani security official told Reuters, on the condition of anonymity, that the incident had raised alarm and could have escalated into a “critical untoward situation”.
“The admission that it was a missile was very nonchalant,” he said. “What does this say about their safety mechanisms and the technical prowess of very dangerous weapons? The international community needs to have a very close look at this.”
The official said it was possibly a BrahMos missile – a nuclear-capable, land-attack cruise missile jointly developed by Russia and India. According to the U.S.-based Arms Control Association, the missile’s range is between 300 km (186 miles) and 500 km (310 miles), making it capable of hitting Islamabad from a northern Indian launch pad.
A Pakistan air force official said the object, flying at 40,000 feet and three times the speed of sound, had flown 124 km (77 miles) in Pakistani airspace.
Happymon Jacob, a professor of international studies at New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University, said both sides had handled the situation well.
“It gives me great hope that the 2 nuclear weapon states dealt with the missile incident in a mature manner,” he wrote on Twitter.
“New Delhi should offer to pay compensation for the Pak house that was destroyed.”
