Missile firing: Pakistan to seek written response from India, says FM

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Friday that Pakistan will seek a written response from India for firing a missile into Pakistan, ARY News reported.

Shah Mahmood Qureshi, while talking exclusively to ARY News today, said that India will have to give the answer for the negligence, otherwise, Pakistan will unveil its strategy in the coming days.

The foreign minister urged the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) not to be a silent spectators on the grave negligence of India as their mistake could cost several lives if it hit the populous area.

“India is becoming a risk to the global peace. Was the attempt of an Indian submarine to sneak into Pakistani waters also a mistake? They are providing financial resources to the terrorists in Balochistan.”

“If India does not give an answer then we will not remain silent. If the international community remains silent over the issue then it will be a big message for the Pakistani nation,” said Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

FM Qureshi said that Pakistani armed forces are vigilant, dutiful and a peace-loving military. He added that the nation has witnessed the professionalism of the air force and Pakistanis are proud of having such brave and courageous soldiers.

Qureshi’s statement came in response to New Delhi’s defence ministry statement in which it accepted that India’s military accidentally fired a missile into Pakistan and called it “deeply regrettable”.

READ: PAKISTAN AWAITS INDIAN EXPLANATION ON AIRSPACE VIOLATION: FM QURESHI

“In the course of a routine maintenance, a technical malfunction led to the accidental firing of a missile” on Wednesday that landed in “an area of Pakistan”, it said in a statement, adding that a high-level inquiry had been ordered.

It is pertinent to mention here that in a news conference late on Thursday night, Pakistan military spokesman Major-General Babar Iftikhar said, “On 9 March a high-speed flying object was picked up inside Indian territory by air defence operations centre of the Pakistan air force.”

A PAF official at the news conference said the object was being analysed forensically and initial studies suggested it was a surface-to-surface supersonic missile, but was unarmed.

He said it travelled at an altitude of 40,000 feet, at Mach 3, and flew 124 kilometres (77 miles) in Pakistani airspace before crashing.

The foreign office also said in a statement that it summoned on Friday India’s charge d’affaires in Islamabad to lodge a protest over this unprovoked violation of Pakistani airspace.

The foreign office called for an investigation of the incident, which it said could have endangered passenger flights and civilian lives.

Pakistan warned India in the statement “to be mindful of the unpleasant consequences of such negligence and take effective measures to avoid the recurrence off such violations in future.”