WASHINGTON: The United States while denying commenting on the missile fire in Pakistan by India has said there is no indication that the recent firing of a missile from India which landed in Pakistan was anything other than accidental.
India on Friday said it accidentally fired a missile two days back that landed in Pakistan and that the “deeply regrettable” incident was caused by a technical malfunction in the course of its routine maintenance.
“We have no indication as you also heard from our Indian partners that this incident was anything other than an accident,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters at his daily news conference.
Earlier, the Charge d’ Affaires (Cd’A) of the Republic of India in Islamabad was called to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and conveyed the government of Pakistan’s serious concerns on the press statement issued by the Indian Press Information Bureau’s Defence Wing regarding the “accidental firing” of an Indian missile into Pakistani territory on 9 March 2022 due to ‘technical malfunction’ and the decision to hold an internal court of inquiry.
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According to a statement issued by the Foreign Office, the Indian diplomat was asked to convey to the government of India that such serious matters could not be addressed with simplistic explanations as offered by the Indian authorities.
The Charge d’ Affaires was further told that Pakistan expects a satisfactory response to and clarification of several fundamental questions regarding security protocols and technical safeguards against the accidental or unauthorized launch of missiles in a nuclearized environment.
The diplomat was informed that the Indian decision to hold an internal court of inquiry was not sufficient since the missile ended up in Pakistani territory. He was told to convey to the Government of India Pakistan’s demand of a joint probe in order to accurately establish the facts surrounding the incident.
