The Indian Air Force sacked three of its officers on Tuesday for accidentally firing a cruise missile at Pakistan, India’s rival and nuclear-armed country like India, as a result of a months-long investigation in New Delhi.
It had landed about 125 kilometers inside Pakistani territory, causing no bodily harm or material damage. In a statement, the Air Force said an investigation into the incident found three officers guilty of violations of standard operating procedures.
“These three officers were found to be primarily responsible for the incident. The central government terminated their duties with immediate effect,” it added.
Tense relations between the two countries
Pakistan said a “supersonic flying object” traveling within 40,000 feet of India violated its airspace and struck an uninhabited civilian area on March 9. New Delhi immediately acknowledged the error, which Islamabad said had endangered civilian aircraft.
India called the incident “deeply regrettable” and promised investigations at the highest level. Pakistan has demanded a joint investigation into the matter and questioned the reliability of New Delhi’s nuclear and missile safety protocols.
But uniquely, the two neighboring nations put the incident in perspective, despite a history marked by deep mutual mistrust and hostility. Relations between India and Pakistan, which have fought three wars since gaining independence from Britain in 1947, remain tense.
However, the BrahMos is considered to be one of the fastest cruise missiles in the world. It can be fired from land, sea and air. This cruise missile, which flies at three times the speed of sound and has a range of 300 to 700 kilometers, is being jointly developed by India and Russia. Its name is a contraction of the first letters of the name of the Indian river Brahmaputra and the Russian river Moskva.
Source: BFM TV
