Pakistan rejects India’s action against 3 officers for accidental missile fire, demands joint probe

India’s action against three Indian Air Force officers in the accidental missile-firing incident on March 9 is “unsatisfactory, deficient and inadequate”, Pakistan said on Wednesday.

The country said systematic loopholes of serious nature in the handling of strategic weapons cannot be “covered up beneath the veneer of individual human error”, and in the spirit of transparency, the Indian government must agree to a joint probe.

Last week India sacked three IAF officers following a Court of Inquiry that found they had violated Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) leading to the accidental fire of an unarmed supersonic missile into Pakistan.

“Pakistan categorically rejects India’s purported closure of the highly irresponsible incident and reiterates its demand for a joint probe. As expected, the measures taken by India in the aftermath of the incident and the subsequent findings and punishments handed by the so-called internal Court of Inquiry are totally unsatisfactory, deficient, and inadequate,” it said in a late-night statement.

Pakistan accused India of evading questions related to the command and control system, the safety and security protocols, and the “reason for India’s delayed admission of the missile launch”.

The country said the “imprudent Indian action” of March 9 had “jeopardized” the peace and security environment of the entire region while “Pakistan showed exemplary restraint” which was a testament to its systemic maturity and abiding commitment to peace as a responsible nuclear state.

The missile had hovered over the Indian side of the LOC and then veered towards Pakistan. It then landed deep in its territory. However, since no warhead was installed on the weapon, no loss of life or property took place. The Indian government regretted the incident and promised a thorough probe.

Pakistan’s foreign office had summoned India’s charge d’affaires in Islamabad to lodge a protest against the incident, saying it could have endangered the lives of passengers and civilians.

India and Pakistan have fought four wars in the past 75 years of their existence and came close to one in 2019 when they were engaged in an aerial dogfight following the Pulwama terror attack.