INDIA: A senior Indian air force officer, piloting a transport plane, nearly sparked off a war with nuclear rival Pakistan last month after he strayed for nearly 11 minutes into enemy airspace, during which his aircraft was fired upon. Despite the damage, the officer managed to land on Indian territory.
"India was fortunate that the missile didn't explode inside the wing. If it had, the aircraft would have crashed in Pakistan leading almost certainly to war," a senior military officer said.
The rival armies have been locked in a face-off following the attack on India's parliament three months ago by terrorists that Delhi claims was "launched" by Islamabad.
Ever since the Anatov 32 was fired upon in Kashmir's mountainous Kargil region on February 19th, the air force and the Ministry of Defence have been trying to cover up the incident. But for the first time on Monday defence ministry officials confirmed that the transport aircraft was indeed hit, but not by "friendly" Indian fire as the air force had been claiming. On an official visit to inaugurate the newly extended airstrip at Kargil, close to the line of control that divides the disputed state between India and Pakistan, Air Marshal Bhatia had insisted on personally flying the AN 32.
Within second of taking off he had lost his bearings and crossed over into Pakistani air space where he was fired upon by enemy defence batteries.
The air chief ordered an inquiry into the incident which is expected to report later this month.
