India Lodges Protest with Pakistan Over Space ViolationIndia lodged a strong protest Tuesday with Islamabad over the alleged air space violation by two Pakistani reconnaissance aircraft in Kashmir on Monday, official sources in the defense ministry said here.New Delhi said Monday evening that two Pakistani military reconnaissance aircraft crossed the line of control at 1420 local time in Chhamb sector of Jammu region in Kashmir and were forced to return after "they were engaged by our ground troops," the sources said. The protest was conveyed by the sector commander of the Indian Army in Chhamb area to his ranger counterpart in Pakistan, the sources said. A spokesman of the External Affairs Ministry rejected as totally baseless Islamabad's claim that Pakistani planes had not violated Indian airspace, insisting that the two aircraft had strayed across the line of control, de facto border in Kashmir between India and Pakistan. This is the first report of air intrusion by Pakistan since the ceasefire in the disputed area declared by India nearly two months ago. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/ |