NEW DELHI, 12 March 2022, (TON): The Defence Ministry said “a missile was fired accidentally from the Indian side into an area in Pakistan earlier this week, blaming the incident on a technical malfunction that was deeply regrettable.

The Ministry of Defence said in a statement "on 9 March 2022, in the course of routine maintenance, a technical malfunction led to the accidental firing of a missile. The Government of India has taken a serious view and ordered a high-level Court of Enquiry.”

It added "it is learnt that the missile landed in an area of Pakistan. While the incident is deeply regrettable, it is also a matter of relief that there has been no loss of life due to the accident.”

According to Pakistan, the missile flew more than 100 km inside their airspace, at an altitude of 40,000 feet and at three times the speed of sound, before it landed.

There was no warhead on the missile so it did not detonate.

But the country's foreign office said it had summoned India's charge d'affaires in Islamabad to protest what it called an unprovoked violation of its airspace.