BrahMos missile: Pakistan again asks India for joint probe

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday once again reiterated its concern and asked India for a joint probe into an irresponsible incident in which India fired a BrahMos supersonic missile into Pakistani territory on March 9, 2022.

BrahMos, a nuclear-capable cruise missile, jointly developed by Russia and India, saw the Pakistan Air Force assessing that the missile travelled three times the speed of sound at an altitude of 12,000m (40,000ft) and flew 124km (77 miles) in the Pakistani airspace before crashing. Luckily, no lives were lost in this reckless incident.

The Pakistan military at the time had said that the missile had “endangered many passenger and international flights in Indian and Pakistani airspace” as well as “human life and property on the ground”.

However, at the time, Pakistan reacted maturely and did not react to what would have turned into a very dangerous situation for the two nuclear armed neighbours.

Worrisome for Pakistan is that India has not shared the findings of its internal inquiry with Pakistan, which says that its unilateral and hasty closure of the so-called internal inquiry have raised serious questions on the command and control systems in place in India for its strategic weapons.

“We also expect satisfactory response to and clarification of several fundamental questions regarding security protocols and technical safeguards against accidental or unauthorized launch of missiles in a nuclearised environment,” said the Foreign Office.

New Delhi at the time had blamed what it said was a deeply regrettable incident on a technical malfunction during routine maintenance. This excuse had found criticism even inside India when leading experts said this was an eyewash. The Indian Air Force had announced that it was terminating the officers involved in the incident and the internal investigation had found that “deviation of Standard Operating Procedure” by the officers had led to the accidental firing of the BrahMos missile.

However, New Delhi did not respond to Pakistan’s demand for a joint probe, so that such a situation did not arise again in the future. The Foreign Office added that the incident endangered human life and property and posed a grave threat to regional and international peace, security and stability. “Pakistan demonstrated exemplary restraint which is testament of our systemic maturity and unflinching commitment to peace as a responsible nuclear state,” it said.

The irresponsible act by India was in violation of international law, United Nations Charter, Articles on the Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts, civil aviation rules and safety protocols.

“Despite the lapse of one year, the government of India has not acceded to Pakistan’s demand for a joint probe to accurately establish the facts surrounding this serious incident,” said the Foreign Office.