The Pakistan ministry of foreign affairs has sought “a joint probe to accurately establish the facts surrounding India accidentally sending an unarmed missile deep inside Pakistan on March 9.” Describing the incident as of “grave nature” Pakistan raised many questions about India’s security protocols and technical safeguards against accidental or unauthorised missiles in the “nuclearised” region.
“The Indian decision to hold an internal court of inquiry is not sufficient since the missile ended in Pakistani territory. Pakistan demands a joint probe to accurately establish the facts surrounding the incident,” the ministry said in a statement. The statement raised seven questions including if the missile was equipped with a self-destruct mechanism, and if so, why that had failed, and if India kept its missiles primed for launch even during maintenance.
The Pakistani demand for “a joint probe” came a day after India acknowledged that a “technical malfunction led to the accidental firing of a missile”. The Ministry of Defence, in a statement said: “On 9 March 2022, in the course of a 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 inquiry. 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.”
Pakistan’s 24-hour wait to announce the incident may have given both sides time to contain the damage from an incident that could have quickly spun out of control. When Inter-Services Public Relations chief Major General Babar Iftikhar held a press conference on March 10 to announce that an Indian missile had breached the international border and landed in Mian Channu in Khanewal of Pakistan Punjab - a full day after the incident - he made clear that the Pakistani side was not ruling out an accident, but it was for India to do the explaining. He reiterated more than once that it was “certainly unarmed”.
One assessment is that the Pakistani military, which said it tracked the missile from the start of its journey at Sirsa in Haryana, quickly came to the conclusion that it was a misfire, and did not see advantage in escalation.
The missile incident has come at a time when Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is battling to remain in office and needs to win an Opposition motion of no-confidence that is not looking easy for him given the cracks in his coalition. With relations between him and the Pakistan Army no longer of the “same page” kind, Khan may have to fight this battle on his own.
Restrained handling by both sides may have prevented an escalation of the incident, but experts warn that India’s hard earned international credibility as a responsible nuclear weapons state could take a hit.
