Beijing/New Delhi, March 15 (Agency) Following the “accidental firing” by India of a missile that landed in Pakistani territory, China on Monday said both countries should hold talks on the issue and step up information sharing to avoid such misjudgements in future. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian, in answer to a question on the issue in Beijing, also said that India and Pakistan are important countries of South Asia and bear responsibility for maintaining regional stability. “China has noted the relevant information. Pakistan and India are both important countries in South Asia, bearing responsibilities for maintaining regional security and stability. “China calls on the countries to hold dialogue and communication as soon as possible, and look thoroughly into the incident, step up information sharing, and promptly establish a reporting mechanism so that such incidents will not happen again, and misunderstanding and misjudgment can be avoided,” he said. Last week, a missile was fired accidentally from the Indian side into an area in Pakistan.
The Indian Defence Ministry blamed the incident on a “technical malfunction”. “On 9 March 2022, in the course of 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 Court of Enquiry,” the Ministry of Defence said in a statement. “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,” it said. According to Pakistan, the missile flew more than 100 km inside their airspace, at an altitude of 40,000 feet and at three times the speed of sound, before it landed. There was no warhead on the missile so it did not detonate. Islamabad summoned India’s charge d’affaires to protest the violation of its airspace. Pakistani military spokesperson Major-General Babar Iftikhar said that a “high-speed flying object” crashed near its eastern city of Mian Channu and that it originated from Sirsa, in Haryana state. Pakistan has demanded a joint probe into the incident. In Islamabad, Pakistani Foreign Minster Shah Mahmood Qureshi raised the issue during a telephone call with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock and said the international community must take serious note of the “accidental” firing of a missile by India inside Pakistan.