India says it accidentally launched a missile into Pakistan

India accidentally fired a missile at Pakistan on March 9, the Indian Ministry of Defense announced on Friday.

India’s defense ministry said the government had ordered a “high-level Court of Inquiry” into the incident, indicating that a technical glitch during regular maintenance was believed to be the cause.

“On March 9, 2022, during a routine maintenance, a technical malfunction led to the accidental launch of a missile,” the Indian Ministry of Defense said in a three-paragraph statement.

“It is learned that the rocket landed in a region of Pakistan. While the incident is deeply saddening, it is also reassuring that there were no casualties due to the accident,” the statement added.

What happened?

On March 10, a Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman said in a Facebook post that Islamabad had summoned India’s top Pakistani diplomat to Islamabad to file a “strong protest from Pakistan over its unprovoked violation.”

Pakistan said an “ultrasonic flying object” originating in India entered the territory on March 9, at 18:43 local time. The rocket was said to have been unarmed and crashed near the eastern city of Mian Channu, about 500 kilometers (310 miles) from the capital Islamabad.

Authorities said the incident not only caused damage to civilian property, but also caused human lives on the ground. He called on India to “bear in mind the unpleasant consequences” of such negligence.

“Assuming it was a missile was very foolish,” a senior Pakistani security official told Reuters, adding that it was most likely the BrahMos missile, a nuclear-capable cruise missile developed jointly by Russia.

“What does this say about their security mechanisms and the technical capability of very dangerous weapons? The international community must look at it very carefully,” he added.

India and Pakistan have nuclear weapons and military experts have repeatedly warned of the risk of miscalculations or nuclear accidents.

The two countries were dangerously close to a full-blown war in 2019, when both launched airstrikes across the Line of Control, the de facto border between India and Pakistan.

rm / jcg (Reuters, AP)