Pakistan lodges strong protest with India over airspace violation

Pakistan lodges strong protest with India over airspace violation

Islamabad (Web Desk): Pakistan has summoned Charge d'Affaires of India to Foreign Office to convey Pakistan's strong protest over the unprovoked violation of its airspace by an Indian origin 'super-sonic flying object'.

The projectile entered into Pakistan from 'Suratgarh' India at 1843 hrs on March 9, 2022 and crashed near Mian Chunnu city at around 1850 hrs causing damage to civilian property.

According to a statement issued by the Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, the Indian diplomat was conveyed that imprudent launch of flying object not only caused damage to civilian property but also put at risk human lives on ground.

The spokesperson said flight path of flying object endangered several domestic and international flights within Pakistani airspace and could have resulted in a serious aviation accident.

"Such irresponsible incidents were also reflective of India's disregard for Air safety and callousness towards regional peace and stability," the statement said.

The FO called for a thorough and transparent investigation into the incident, the outcome of which must be shared with Pakistan.

"The Government of India is cautioned to be mindful of the unpleasant consequences of such negligence and take effective measures to avoid the recurrence of such violations in future," the FO statement said.

Addressing a press conference in Rawalpindi on Thursday, Director-General (DG) Inter-Service Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Babar Iftikhar said that an Indian "high speed flying object" entered the Pakistani airspace and fell near Mian Chunnu in Khanewal district, causing some damage to the surrounding areas.

"Pakistan strongly protested s this flagrant violation and cautions against recurrence of any such incident in the future," the DG ISPR said.

He said that the incident occurred on March 9, when a high-speed flying object was detected inside the Indian territory by the PAF Air Defence Operation System. The object was picked up at 18:43 hours which after remaining airborne, suddenly manoeuvred from its initial course and intruded into the Pakistani territory. He described it as “a supersonic flying object, most probably a missile, but it was certainly unarmed.”

He said the Pakistan Air Force continuously monitored the complete flying path of the object, from its point of origin near Sirsa in India to its point of impact, near Mian Channu and “initiated requisite tactical actions.”