| Submit your comments on this article |
| India-Pakistan |
| Pak Govt downplays Indian jetsÂ’ airspace breach |
| 2008-12-14 |
| ISLAMABAD: The government has downplayed the Indian violations of its airspace, suggesting on Sunday that they were ‘inadvertent’ and ‘technical’. Pakistani officials said Indian aircraft entered two to four kilometres inside Azad Kashmir and over Lahore on Saturday. Pakistani jets chased the Indian aircraft back over the border, authorities here said. Both sides are usually careful to avoid such territorial violations, and it was unclear how two separate but apparently accidental incursions could occur on the same day. President Asif Ali Zardari tried to dismiss the incidents, calling them ‘technical incursions’ that have been blown out of proportion. ‘Incursions do happen,’ he told a news conference with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, saying the planes were flying at about 40,000 feet (12,000 meters) when they executed a turn that ‘slightly entered Pakistan soil.’ India denied its aircraft crossed into Pakistani airspace. ‘There has not been any airspace violation by the Indian air force as has been alleged,’ Indian air force spokesman Mahesh Upasani said Sunday. Pakistani officials seemed keen Sunday to avoid enflaming tensions. Air Force spokesman Humayun Viqar told Geo TV it may have been a ‘technical violation’ because fighter jets fly at high altitudes and may have crossed the limits by mistake. He said an unspecified number of Indian aircraft crossed over at 11:30 a.m. and 1:05 p.m. Saturday. ‘We are ready to deal with any misadventure, we are monitoring the situation, we are on alert,’ Viqar said. Pakistan Information Minister Sherry Rehman said in a statement that the Indian Air Force had told Pakistan the incursion was ‘inadvertent.’ ‘There is no need for undue alarm,’ she said. |
| Posted by:john frum |
| #3 Ah, Foxbats! That would explain the boom mentioned earlier. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2008-12-14 23:24 |
| #2 India used to operate the Mig 25R. Recce Incursion Air Power International By Peter Steinemann Last May (1997), an Indian Force (IAF) Mikoyan MiG-25RB Foxbat-B reconnaissance aircraft created a furore when the pilot flew faster than Mach 2 over Pakistani territory following a reconnaissance mission into Pakistan airspace. The Foxbat broke the sound barrier while flying at an altitude of around 65,000 feet, otherwise the mission would have remained covert, at least to the general public. The Pakistan Government considered the breaking of the sound barrier as deliberate: to make the point that the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has no aircraft in its inventory which can come close to the cruising height of the MiG-25 (up to 74,000 feet). |
| Posted by: john frum 2008-12-14 14:21 |
| #1 Reconnaissance run. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2008-12-14 14:01 |