FO summons Indian diplomat to protest airspace violation

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office has summoned Indian envoy on Friday and registered a strong protest over the intrusion of an Indian projectile in Pakistanis airspace.

According to a statement, the Charge d’Affaires of India was summoned to the Foreign Office and conveyed Pakistan’s “strong protest over the unprovoked violation of its airspace” by an Indian origin ‘super-sonic flying object’ which entered into Pakistan from Suratgarh, India on 9 March and fell to ground near Mian Chunnu city causing damage to civilian property.

“The Indian diplomat was conveyed that the imprudent launch of the flying object not only caused damage to civilian property but also put at risk human lives on ground. Besides, the flight path of the flying object endangered several domestic/international flights within Pakistani airspace and could have resulted in a serious aviation accident as well as civilian casualties,” the statement added.

The Indian diplomat was told to convey to the Government of India, Pakistan’s strong condemnation of this blatant violation of Pakistani airspace in contravention of the established international norms and aviation safety protocols. Such irresponsible incidents were also reflective of India’s disregard for air safety and callousness towards regional peace and stability.

The Foreign Office called for a thorough and transparent investigation of the incident, the outcome of which must be shared with Pakistan. Moreover, the Government of India is cautioned to be mindful of the unpleasant consequences of such negligence and take effective measures to avoid the recurrence off such violations in future.

‘Supersonic flying object’

A day earlier, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar addressed a press conference and briefed an Indian “high speed flying object” was found in Mian Channu. He said the Pakistan Air Force shot down an Indian projectile that entered Pakistani airspace and violated international conventions. He said that the projectile travelled 124kms inside Pakistan from India.

He said Pakistan Air Force initiated tactical operations. “Pakistan Air Force continuously monitored that complete flying path of the object, from its point of origin to its point of impact,” he had said. “We detected the object on time and took necessary action as per the standard operating procedures (SOPs),” he said, adding that no casualties took place because of the incident. “Some material damage was caused to a building because of the object and a crater was formed,” he said.

He said that Pakistan strongly condemned the Indian violation of its airspace. “The flight path endangered civilians in both Pakistan and India. India must explain what caused this; it reflects poorly on Indian aviation,” he said, adding that this could have resulted in a major aviation disaster.

The military’s press wing confirmed that there was “no sensitive installation in the area where the object was shot down.” When asked to provide more details about the object, he said “we are not claiming anything right now and will wait for India to respond. We have given details of whatever we know right now. It is for the India to explain what happened in Mian Channu.”