Rajnath Singh to make statement in Lok Sabha over "inadvertent" firing of missile

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will make a statement in Lok Sabha on Tuesday over the "inadvertent" firing of a missile that landed in Pakistan last week. India had 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.

On last Thursday night, Pakistan summoned India's Charge d'Affaires at in Islamabad and conveyed its strong protest over the ''unprovoked'' violation of its airspace by the supersonic ''projectile'' of Indian origin. 

The Defence Ministry later said the government has taken a serious view of the incident and ordered a 'Court of Enquiry' into it, a day after Pakistan said a high-speed projectile launched from India entered its airspace and fell near Mian Channu in Khanewal district.

Though the statement by the defence ministry did not specify the name of the missile, the description given by the Pakistan military indicated that it could be a Brahmos missile. Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar, the Director-General of the Inter-Service Public Relations (ISPR) of Pakistan, said on Thursday evening that the unarmed projectile launched from India entered the Pakistani airspace travelling 124 km.

Iftikhar said the Pakistan Air Force continuously monitored the complete flight path of the flying object from its point of origin near Sirsa in India till its point of impact near Mian Channu.

The Pakistan Foreign Office (FO) summoned the Indian Charge d'Affaires and registered its protest over the ''unprovoked'' violation of its airspace and said that such ''irresponsible incidents'' reflected India's ''disregard'' for air safety. ''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 the ground,'' the Pakistan FO said. ''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,'' it said in a statement.

The Pakistan foreign office had also called for a thorough and transparent investigation into the incident and demanded that its outcome be shared with Islamabad.

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