The Editorial Analysis- Unguided Missile

Table of Contents

Missile Crisis between India- Pakistan: Relevance for UPSC Exam

GS Paper 2: International Relations- India and its neighbourhood- relations.

The recent accidental firing of a missile by India into Pakistan could have led to serious for both countries.
This could have led to an unintended escalation of tensions between the two nuclear-armed countries, but, fortunately, that did not happen.

India’s Stand: The Government of India has said the incident, on March 9, happened in the course of routine maintenance, due to a technical malfunction.
India’s Response: India has ordered a high-level Court of Inquiry. The Chargé d’affaires of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad were called twice by Pakistan to convey their concerns.
Pakistan’s Stand: Pakistan has alleged that the incident “indicates many loopholes and technical lapses of a serious nature in Indian handling of strategic weapons”.
Pakistan’s Demand: Pakistan termed the inquiry as ordered by India as insufficient. It has demanded a joint probe.
- It has also sought the involvement of the international community to promote “strategic stability in the region”.

Questioning India’s Technical Capability: India’s global image of being a responsible nuclear power has been built over decades of restrained words and thoughtful action.
- This incident frays that reputation and measures must be taken to restore the confidence of the international community in India.
Previous Incidents: This accident also has echoes of another incident in February 2019.
- A day after the Balakot airstrike, as fighter jets of India and Pakistan were engaged in a dogfight near the LoC, a Mi-17V5 crashed in Budgam shortly after take-off from Srinagar killing its personnel onboard and a civilian on the ground.
- The Court of Inquiry confirmed that it was shot by an Israeli-origin Spyder surface-to-air missile system of the IAF.

India must leave no scope for any doubts about its capacity to handle nuclear and other military assets. That objective can be achieved without a joint probe with Pakistan or any international involvement, but the objective must be achieved nevertheless.