By Imran Nasir

ISLAMABAD (TSAT) - Pakistan on Friday said India's incidentally missile fire has raised serious questions over the safety of its nuclear weapons.

In a statement, Pakistan National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf said the Indian move was highly irresponsible that even New Delhi didn’t inform his country immediately that an inadvertent launch of a cruise missile had taken place.

“In a nuclear environment, such callousness & ineptitude raises questions about the safety & security of Indian weapon systems. Already, there have been multiple incidents of uranium theft in India and its citizens have even been arrested while smuggling uranium in the recent past,” Yusuf said.

He also questioned India's silence for two days and issued a statement after Pakistan protested over their airspace violation. 

“On March 9th, a supersonic projectile from India traveling at 40,000 feet covered over 250 km & landed inside Pakistani territory. It has taken more than 2 days for India to accept that this was their missile launched ostensibly due to a technical malfunction during maintenance,” he questioned. 

Yusuf warned that Indian move has raised serious questions about New Delhi’s ability to handle such sensitive technology. 

“This missile traveled close to the path of international and domestic commercial airlines and threatened the safety of civilians,” said Pakistan's top official.

Yusuf said Pakistan constantly called on the world to look at India’s irresponsible behavior that continues to pose a threat to regional stability but their calls have been ignored.

“Given this incident, and earlier ones, the world must consider whether India is able to ensure the safety and security of its nuclear and other high-end weapon systems.

“It is hard to believe anything this Indian government says,” said Yusuf and demanded an international investigation to dig out the real circumstances surrounding this incident before something more happened intentionally.

He also criticized the international community's silence over the situation in South Asia and said its an “alarm’ for the whole world.

“Regardless, the world must remove its blinders about Indian state’s behavior within its country, its diplomatic direction, & its disregard for the need for peace & stability in its neighborhood. The world must treat this incident with the urgency, sensitivity & alarm it deserves,” Pakistan National Security adviser said. 

On Friday, India regretted over missile fire that entered Pakistan airspace and called it was a "technical malfunction".

In a statement, Indian Defense Ministry said the government of India has taken serious notice and ordered a high-level Court of Enquiry into a missile that entered into Pakistan.

“The incident is deeply regrettable, but it is a matter of relief that there has been no loss of life due to the accident,” said the ministry. 

On Thursday, Pakistan army spokesman Major General Babar Iftikhar said that Wednesday around 6:43 PM, local time, a Hi-speed flying object was picked up inside Indian Territory by the Air Defence Operations Center of PAF.

 “From its initial course, the object suddenly maneuvered towards Pakistani Territory and violated Pakistan Air Space ultimately falling near Mian Channu at 6:50 PM also damaged some civilian property,” said the spokesman of the Pakistan army told reporters.

“Thankfully, no loss or injury to human life was caused,” he added.

According to the military spokesman, Pakistan Air Force was continuously monitoring the complete flight path of the flying object from its point of origin Sirsa in India till its point of impact near Mian Channu and initiated requisite tactical actions by SOPs.

On March 3, Pakistan claimed its Navy foiled an Indian submarine’s attempt to breach its territorial waters on March 1.

India deployed its submarine against Pakistan with “ulterior motives,” a spokesperson for the Pakistan army said.

The spokesperson pointed out that this was the fourth attempted Indian incursion thwarted by the Pakistan Navy in the past five years.

The two South Asian nuclear rivals have tensed relations for several decades but the relations deteriorated since August 2019 when India scrapped the special status of disputed Jammu and Kashmir, the only Muslim majority region under India occupation from 1948. 

Pakistan and India have fought three wars – 1948, 1965 -- 1971 and two of them over Kashmir.

Some Kashmiri groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been fighting against Indian occupation  for  unification with neighboring Pakistan.

According to several human rights organizations, nearly 100,000 people have reportedly been killed in the conflict in the region since 1989.