Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), on Wednesday, rejected India’s probe into the BrahMos missile incident and demanded a joint investigation of it.
The statement comes a day after the Indian Air Force (IAF), on Tuesday, declared that the Indian Government had terminated three officers for accidentally launching a nuclear-capable missile, BrahMos, into Pakistan on 9 March.
The missile attack pushed Islamabad into asking for explanations from New Delhi about the installed safety measures that prevent accidental launches on its side.
The IAF’s statement read, “A Court of Inquiry (CoI), set up to establish the facts of the case, including fixing responsibility for the incident, found that deviation from the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) by three officers led to the accidental firing of the missile.”
In response to the IAF’s statement, Foreign Office’s (FO) spokesperson, Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, said that the FO is aware of India’s findings and its decision to sack three service officers for their irresponsible act. However, the spokesperson termed India’s course of action unsatisfactory and insufficient.
🔊: PR NO. 3️⃣9️⃣7️⃣/2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣2️⃣
Pakistan rejects India’s purported closure of the incident of the firing of a supersonic Missile into Pakistani territory on 9 March, 2022 and reiterates demand for joint probe
🔗⬇️https://t.co/FK44PWvLxL pic.twitter.com/G1Cr6bUgfL
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Pakistan (@ForeignOfficePk) August 24, 2022
The spokesperson stated, “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 (CoI) are totally unsatisfactory, deficient, and inadequate.”
Furthermore, he called out India for failing to acknowledge Pakistan’s insistence on a joint probe and also for avoiding Pakistan’s concerns about India’s command and control system, the safety and security protocols, and delayed admission of the missile launch by New Delhi.
He added, “Systemic loopholes and technical lapses of serious nature in the handling of strategic weapons cannot be covered up beneath the veneer of individual human error. If indeed India has nothing to hide then it must accept Pakistan’s demand for a joint probe in the spirit of transparency.”
Moreover, he called the Indian blunder “imprudent” and said that it threatened the peace and security of the entire region.
“Pakistan’s demonstration of exemplary restraint is a testament to our systemic maturity and abiding commitment to peace as a responsible nuclear state,” Iftikhar mentioned.
About BrahMos Missile, it is a nuclear-capable, land-attack cruise missile that is a joint effort of Russia and India.
