A review of the Standard Operating Procedures for “operations, maintenance and inspections” is being conducted in the wake of the accidental firing of a missile which landed in Pakistan last week, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Tuesday while stating that the government has taken a serious note of it and a formal high–level inquiry has been ordered.
“We attach highest priority to safety and security of our weapon systems. If any shortcoming is found, the same would be immediately rectified,” Mr. Singh said in a statement made in both Houses of Parliament. “The inquiry would determine the exact cause of the said accident.”
Mr. Singh said during routine maintenance and inspection, the missile was accidentally released at around 7 p.m. and it was later learnt that it had landed inside the territory of Pakistan. While this incident is regretted, we are relieved that nobody was injured, he said.
Talking of the missile system in question without identifying it, Mr. Singh assured the House that the missile system is “very reliable and safe”.
Moreover, our safety procedures and protocols are of the highest order and are reviewed from time to time, he said. “Our armed forces are well–trained and disciplined and are well experienced in handling such systems.”
The Pakistan military said on Thursday that at 6:43 p.m. on March 9, a supersonic surface–to–surface missile travelling at 40,000 feet was picked up inside Indian territory which deviated from its initial course and went 124 km inside Pakistani territory and fell near Mian Channu at 6:50 p.m. damaging some civilian property.
On Friday, the Defence Ministry said in a statement that in the course of a routine maintenance, a technical malfunction had led to it.
Further on Saturday, stating that the incident indicates many “loopholes and technical lapses“ of serious nature in the Indian handling of strategic weapons and the Indian decision to hold an internal court of inquiry is not sufficient since the missile ended up in Pakistani territory, Pakistan demanded a “joint probe to accurately establish the facts surrounding the incident”.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a Cabinet Committee on Security meeting during which he was briefed on the “latest developments and different aspects of India’s security preparedness in the border areas as well as in the maritime and air domain”.
