New Delhi: India on Friday said that it accidentally fired a missile from a military base into Pakistan and expressed regret that it reached Pakistan on March 9.
As per the Defence Ministry, the accidental firing happened because of a technical glitch.
"On 9 March, 2022, in the course of routine maintenance, a technical malfunction led to the accidental firing of a missile," an official statement from PIB said.
The statement further read that the Government of India (GoI) has also ordered a high-level Court of Enquiry into the accident.
The Defence Ministry also added that it was a matter of relief that there was no loss of life.
"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 statement added.
Earlier on Friday, Pakistan warned India of ''unpleasant consequences'' over an unidentified high-altitude supersonic object that crashed in the latter's territory.
In an official statement, Pakistan Foreign Office informed that it had summoned India's charge d'affaires on Friday in Islamabad and lodged a protest over what is said was the unprovoked violation of its airspace.
The statement further informed that the Pakistan had ordered for an investigation in this regard. The neighbour country further alleged that it could have endangered passengers' flights and civilian lives.
Pakistan also asked India to be mindful of the unpleasant consequences of such negligence and take effective measures to avoid the recurrence off such violations in future.
On March 9, the Pakistani army had claimed that a high-flying projectile entered the airspace of Pakistan. According to the army, the projectile was allegedly from India and crashed inside its territory in Punjab province.
"On March 9, at 6:43 pm, a high-speed flying object was picked up inside the Indian territory…From the initial course, it deviated and entered Pakistan territory and fell in Pakistani territory, causing some damage to civilian installations but no loss of life was reported," Army spokesman Major General Babar Iftikhar had told the media.
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