"We have no indication, as you also heard from our Indian partners, that this incident was anything other than an accident. We refer you, of course, to the Indian Ministry of Defence for any follow-up. They issued a statement on March 9th to explain precisely what had happened. We don’t have a comment beyond that," US State Department Spokesperson Ned Prince said on Monday.
Only after Pakistan approached the Indian charge d’affaires did the Indian Ministry Of Defence explain that the missile which landed in Pakistan on March 9 had been ‘accidentally’ fired, claiming that the incident took place due to a ‘technical malfunction’.
Previously, Director General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar had announced that a ‘super-sonic flying object’ from India had violated Pakistan’s airspace. In just three minutes and 44 seconds, the projectile managed to travel 124 kilometres inside Pakistan’s borders.
National Security Advisor (NSA) Moeed Yusuf raised questions on India’s ability to handle sensitive technology, emphasising that the projectile had traveled through the path taken by international and domestic airlines, jeopardising lives in its flight path.
Yusuf also called for an investigation to determine whether the incident truly was an accidental launch or an intentional move, expressing the view that “it is hard to believe anything this Indian government says.”