Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is scheduled to make a statement in Parliament on Tuesday (March 15, 2022) on the “inadvertent firing of Missile” that landed in Pakistan last week.
India on Friday had said that a missile was ‘accidentally’ fired from a military base and had expressed regret that it landed in Pakistan on March 9. The Indian Defence Ministry said that it has ordered a court of enquiry into the incident adding that it was a matter of relief that there was no loss of life due to the accidental firing.
“On 9 March 2022, in the course of routine maintenance, a technical malfunction led to the accidental firing of a missile. The Government of India has taken a serious view and ordered a high-level Court of Enquiry,” the Defence Ministry had said in a statement.
“It is learnt that the missile landed in an area of Pakistan. While the incident is deeply regrettable, it is also a matter of relief that there has been no loss of life due to the accident,” it had said.
Meanwhile, China has said that India and Pakistan should hold dialogue as soon as possible and launch a “thorough” investigation into the recent ‘accidental firing’ of a missile incident. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian, during a media briefing, said both Pakistan and India are important countries in South Asia and they share the responsibility to uphold regional security and stability.
“China calls on the countries to hold dialogue and communication as soon as possible, and look thoroughly into the incident, step up information sharing, and promptly establish a reporting mechanism so that such incidents will not happen again, and misunderstanding and misjudgement can be avoided,” he said.