Following India’s admittance of an unintentional missile strike inside Pakistan, Pakistan’s National Security Adviser (NSA) Moeed Yusuf questioned New Delhi’s ability to handle sensitive technology, urging the international community to consider whether the neighbouring country could ensure the safety and security of its weapon systems.
Yusuf noted out in a series of tweets that Delhi took more than two days to recognise that “this was their missile released apparently owing to a technical glitch during maintenance.”
Yusuf claimed that the Indian government failed to inform Pakistan about the occurrence.
India claimed on Friday that it fired a missile that landed in Pakistan by accident two days ago, and that the “very unfortunate” incident was triggered by a technical breakdown during routine maintenance.
Yusuf stated “This raises serious doubts about India’s competence to handle such sensitive technology,” he added, adding that the missile had flown close to international and domestic flights, endangering people’ safety.
The NSA also chastised Indian authorities for failing to notify Pakistan immediately after a “inadvertent firing of a cruise missile.”
“In a nuclear environment, such callousness and ineptitude raises concerns about the safety and security of Indian weapon systems,” he said, noting that multiple incidents of uranium theft have already been reported in India, and that its citizens “have even been arrested while smuggling uranium in the recent past.”
Yusuf claimed that Pakistan’s repeated appeals to the international community to pay attention to “India’s irresponsible behaviour” had gone unheeded.
Yusuf also urged for a probe into the “true circumstances surrounding” the March 9 incident, saying that “it is difficult to believe anything this Indian administration claims.”
He said that the missile flew dangerously close to international and domestic flights, endangering civilians’ safety. He further chastised the Indian authorities for failing to notify Pakistan immediately after a “inadvertent firing of a cruise missile.”
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi expressed his concern about the situation, stating that the world community and aviation agencies should be aware of it.
He had indicated that after hearing India’s answer, Pakistan would decide its next course of action, and that envoys from the P-5 countries (permanent members of the UN Security Council) would be summoned to the FO and told on the incident.
DG ISPR had said during Thursday’s press conference that “Pakistan strongly rejects this gross violation and cautions against repetition of any such incidence in the future,” in addition to demanding an explanation from Delhi and raising identical concerns as the NSA.
