Rajnath Singh to give statement on 'accidental' firing of missile into Pak
New Delhi, March 15: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will address the Lok Sabha on Tuesday over the "inadvertent" firing of a missile that landed in Pakistan last week.
On Friday, India had said that a technical malfunction led to the accidental firing of a missile after Pakistan Army said that an Indian projectile had entered the Pakistani airspace. The neighbouring country also claimed that the missile caused some damage to surrounding areas after it fell near a place called Mian Channu in their territory.
The Indian Defence Ministry announced that a court of enquiry into the incident has been established and that it is a relief that no loss of life was reported due to the accidental firing.
"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 statement issued by Defence Ministry read.
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"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," it added.
Even though the statement by the defence ministry did not disclose the name of the missile, the Pakistan military's description indicates that it could be a Brahmos missile. On Thursday evening, Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar, Director-General of Pakistan's Inter-Service Public Relations (ISPR), reported that an unarmed missile launched from India had entered Pakistani airspace after travelling 124 kilometres.
Meanwhile, China has stated that India and Pakistan should hold talks as soon as possible and undertake a "thorough" investigation into the recent "accidental" missile firing incident. During a press conference, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said that Pakistan and India are both major countries in South Asia and that they share responsibility for regional security and stability.
He said, "China calls on the countries to hold dialogue and communication as soon as possible, and look thoroughly into the incident, step up information sharing, and promptly establish a reporting mechanism so that such incidents will not happen again, and misunderstanding and misjudgement can be avoided."
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-PTC News
