Pakistan warns India of ‘unpleasant consequences’ after mysterious supersonic projectile enters its airspace

Unidentified object could have ‘endangered flights’ and caused civilian casualties, Pakistan says

File: Pakistan says India needs to be ‘mindful of the unpleasant consequences of such negligence’ after a projectile was reportedly fired into its territory (Reuters)

Pakistan has warned neighbour India of “unpleasant consequences” after its airspace was violated by an unidentified super-sonic flying object that entered and crashed in its territory.

India needs to be “mindful of the unpleasant consequences of such negligence and take effective measures to avoid the recurrence of such violations in future”, Pakistan’s foreign office said in a statement on Friday.

Lodging a “strong protest over the unprovoked violation”, officials from Islamabad claimed the projectile originated from India and crashed into Pakistan’s eastern Mian Channu city around 6.50pm on Wednesday.

Pakistan said the object caused damage to some civilian property but did not result in any loss of life.

The super-sonic object had been fired from a military base in Suratgarh, in India’s western Rajasthan state, at around 6.43pm, according to Pakistan.

Preliminary reports from the Pakistani side also suggested it was an unarmed surface-to-surface supersonic missile.

A day after the incident, Pakistan’s officials summoned India’s Charge d’Affaires (Cd’A) in Islamabad.

“The imprudent launch of the flying object not only caused damage to civilian property but also put at risk human lives on ground,” Pakistan’s foreign office told the Indian diplomat.

The flight path of the projectile “endangered several domestic and international flights within Pakistan’s airspace,” ministry officials said in a statement, adding that it could have caused a “serious aviation accident as well as civilian casualties”.

“Such irresponsible incidents were also reflective of India’s disregard for air safety and callousness towards regional peace and stability,” Pakistani officials said in the statement.

The country has sought a probe into the alleged airspace violation and asked for the results to be shared.

Major-General Babar Iftikhar, Pakistan’s military spokesperson, said at a press conference on Thursday that the nature of the projectile was not yet ascertained, but added that the object was being analysed forensically.

“Whatever caused this incident to happen, it is for the Indians to explain,” Mr Iftikhar said, adding that Pakistan’s military would not jump to conclusions.

India has not responded to the allegations yet.

Pakistan and India have fought three wars and periodically engage in conflicts over disputed territory.

The two nuclear-armed south Asian neighbours have also severed diplomatic ties over terrorism charges that India has accused Pakistan of and friction due to frequent ceasefire violations on the frontier near Jammu and Kashmir.

Additional reporting by agencies