WASHINGTON, Mar 15 (APP): The United States has said there was no indication that the March 9 firing of a missile from India which hit a Pakistani city was anything other than accidental, an incident that Pakistan demanded should be investigated jointly.
On Friday, India said that it “accidentally” fired a missile 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 on Monday.
“We refer you of course to the Indian Ministry of Defence for any follow-up. They issued a statement on March 9 to explain precisely what had happened. We don’t have a comment beyond that,” Price said in response to a question.
Meanwhile, Pakistan has condemned the “blatant violation” of its airspace, saying, “Such a serious matter cannot be addressed with the simplistic explanation proffered by the Indian authorities.”
“This missile incident is consistent with India’s irresponsible conduct and deserves to be addressed by the international community and especially the Security Council, with the sense of alarm and urgency which it deserves,” FM Qureshi wrote in a letter, made public Monday, to the UN Secretary council President and the Secretary-general.
The Foreign Minister’s letter is being circulated as an official document of the 15-member Council under two agenda items — “The responsibility of the Security Council in the maintenance of international peace and security” and “The India-Pakistan Question.”
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