'Missile fired mistakenly, we apologize': Indian defense ministry

India's defence ministry admitted on Friday that the high flying object (missile) was fired in Pakistan's territory mistakenly. The ministry tendered apology for the mistake.   

According to the ministry, a high level inquiry has been ordered to investigate the incident. 

"On 9 March 2022, in the course of routine maintenance, a technical malfunction led to the accidental firing of a missile," the ministry said in a statement. "It is learnt that the missile landed in an area of Pakistan."

"The government has taken serious view and ordered a high-level court of enquiry," the statement added.

The ministry said while the incident was "deeply regrettable, it is also a matter of relief that there has been no loss of life due to the accident".

The defence ministry's statement comes a day after Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar briefed the media about the incident, calling for an explanation from India.

"On March 9, at 6:43pm, a high-speed flying object was picked up inside the Indian territory by Air Defence Operations Centre of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF)," he told media persons in Islamabad, adding the object suddenly manoeuvred towards Pakistani territory from its initial course and violated Pakistan's air space, ultimately falling near Mian Channu at 6:50pm.

"It was a supersonic flying object, most probably a missile, but it was certainly unarmed," he said.

The DG ISPR said civilian properties was damaged in the incident but no loss of life was reported.

Earlier on Friday Pakistan's foreign office said it had summoned India's charge d'affaires in Islamabad to lodge a protest over what it called an unprovoked violation of its airspace. Pakistan called for an investigation into the incident, which it said could have endangered passenger flights and civilian lives.

Military experts have in the past warned of the risk of accidents or miscalculations by the neighbours, which have fought three wars and have engaged in numerous military clashes, most recently in 2019 which saw the air forces of the two engage in combat. Both nations have nuclear weapons.

"Both states have remained confident about control of nuclear weapons but what if such accidents happen again & with more serious consequences?"

Pakistani military spokesman Major-General Babar Iftikhar said in a late evening news conference on Thursday that a "high-speed flying object" crashed near its eastern city of Mian Channu and that originated from the northern Indian city of Sirsa, in Haryana state near New Delhi.

"The flight path of this object endangered many national and international passenger flights both in Indian and Pakistani airspace as well as human life and property of ground," he said.

Pakistan's foreign office earlier called on India to share the outcome of its investigation into the incident.

A Pakistan air force official said the object travelled at an altitude of 40,000 feet, at Mach 3, and flew 124 kilometres (77 miles) in Pakistani airspace before crashing.

Happymon Jacob, a professor of international studies at New Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University, said both sides handled the situation well.

"It gives me great hope that the 2 nuclear weapon states dealt with the missile incident in a mature manner," he wrote on Twitter. "New Delhi should offer to pay compensation for the Pak house that was destroyed."

-- Additinal input from REUTERS