‘Pakistan prepared to retaliate after Indian missile launch, but held back’

Pakistan had prepared to retaliate after an accidental missile fired by India last week crossed borders and fell in Mian Channu, people familiar with the matter have revealed to foreign media.

According to international media outlet Bloomberg, Pakistan had prepared to conduct the launch of a similar missile to strike India in retaliation but deferred as assessment revealed that something was not right. The Indian missile damaged some property but no casualties were reported.

The Indian Air Force launched the BrahMos medium-range cruise missile on March 9 from the garrison town of Ambala. Due to human and technical errors, as officially stated by India, the missile entered Pakistani airspace and crashed in Mian Channu. Indian forces were conducting a routine exercise to evaluate systems capable of taking offensive action in conflict, Bloomberg reported.

The report said that Indian forces moved to shut the missile system down in order to prevent further launches. Bloomberg said that India did not use its direct hotline between the top commanders of both sides to inform Pakistan of the incident.

A day later, the Pakistan military held a briefing to publicize the incident after India failed to explain the event. New Delhi offered a response on Friday after Pakistan protested over the launch.