After India sacks 3 IAF officers for accidental firing of Brahmos missile into Pakistan, Islamabad calls action 'unsatisfactory, inadequate'

A BrahMos missile was accidentally fired on March 9 and landed in Pakistan. Three officers of the Indian Air Force were sacked on Tuesday for the incident.

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New Delhi: A day after India terminated the services of three officers of the Indian Air Force for the accidental firing of the Brahmos missile into Pakistan, Islamabad on Wednesday (August 24, 2022) called New Delhi's action as "unsatisfactory" and "inadequate". Pakistan rejected India's action over the March 9 accidental firing incident and reiterated its demand for a joint probe. In an official statement, Pakistan's Foreign Office said that it categorically rejects India's purported closure of the highly irresponsible incident and reiterates its demand for a joint probe.

"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 are totally unsatisfactory, deficient and inadequate," it said.

Pakistan alleged that India has not only failed to respond to its demand for a joint inquiry but has also evaded the questions raised by Islamabad regarding the command and control system in place in India, the safety and security protocols and the "reason for India's delayed admission of the missile launch".

If India has nothing to hide, it must accept Pakistan's demand for joint probe in accidental firing of Brahmos missile

Pakistan said systemic loopholes and technical lapses of serious nature in handling of strategic weapons "cannot be covered up beneath the veneer of individual human error".

"If indeed India has nothing to hide, it must accept Pakistan's demand for a joint probe in the spirit of transparency," the official statement read. 

It further said the "imprudent Indian action" of March 9 had "jeopardized" the peace and security environment of the entire region while "Pakistan showed exemplary restraint" which was a testament of its systemic maturity and abiding commitment to peace as a responsible nuclear state.

Pakistan reiterated its demand that the Indian government must immediately provide specific responses to the queries raised by Islamabad after the incident and accedes to its call for a joint probe.

Earlier on August 23, three officers of the Indian Air Force were sacked after a Court of Inquiry (CoI) found that deviation from the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) by them led to the accidental firing of the missile.

"A BrahMos missile was accidentally fired on March 9. A Court of Inquiry (Col), set up to establish the facts of the case, including fixing responsibility for the incident, found that deviation from the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) by three officers led to the accidental firing of the missile," the statement said.

"These three officers have primarily been held responsible for the incident. Their services have been terminated by the central government with immediate effect. Termination orders have been served upon the officers on August 23," it said.

Though the Indian Air Force did not mention the ranks and names of the officials whose services have been terminated, it is learnt that a Group Captain is among the three.

Following the incident, Pakistan had summoned India's Charge d'Affaires in Islamabad and conveyed its strong protest over the "unprovoked" violation of its airspace by the supersonic "projectile" of Indian origin.

Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar, the Director-General of the Inter-Service Public Relations (ISPR) of Pakistan, said the unarmed projectile entered the Pakistani airspace travelling 124 km.

The Pakistan foreign office said the "super-sonic flying object" entered Pakistan from India's Suratgarh and fell to the ground near Mian Channu city, causing damage to civilian property.

(With agency inputs)