India Accuses Pakistan Of Airspace Violation In Kashmir
NEW DELHI, Feb 19 (News Agencies) - Two Pakistani military aircraft intruded into Indian airspace Monday in Kashmir but the planes were forced to turn back, one of them hit by ground-fire, highly-placed Indian military sources said.
They said two reconnaissance planes crossed the Line of Control, an imaginary line partitioning disputed Kashmir, and flew over the Chhamb region in the southern zone of the Indian territory.
"The two planes crossed into Indian airspace at around 2:30 pm [0850 GMT] in the Chhamb sector but our ground fire was activated and the two aircraft were forced to return.
"From the inputs we have received, one of the two aircraft has been hit and has limped back to Pakistan," an Indian Air Force source said.
The source described the intruding aircraft as two-seater Mushaq trainers that have the dual role of surveillance and said the pair were flying at a low-level and were "well within" Indian territory.
"A protest is being lodged with Pakistan for this airspace violation," a defense ministry source added.
Indian fighter jets shot down a French-built Pakistani spy plane after it crossed over into Indian airspace over Gujarat state two years ago.
Pakistan denied the plane was spying and said the Atlantique maritime surveillance aircraft was shot down well within its territory. It has sued India for compensation in the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
Pakistan also rejected today's Indian allegation of airspace violation.
"The allegation was false. It was checked and proved to be without any basis," Foreign Office spokesman Riaz Muhammad Khan was quoted as telling the official Associated Press of Pakistan.
Khan said the two single-engine Mushak aircraft were flying in the Iftikharabad area opposite Chhamb but were "well within our airspace and territory.
"The Indian allegation was checked from radar system and proved to be false," he added.
The two rivals have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir since their independence from Britain in 1947.
They came dangerously close to a fourth war in the summer of 1999 when India launched a full-scale military offensive to dislodge Pakistani armed forces and Islamic fighters occupying key peaks in the Indian zone of Kashmir.
