India, Pakistan In War Of Words
The worldÂ's newest nuclear flashpoint was still on edge Thursday after the second aerial clash in two days spread fresh war jitters through the Indian subcontinent. India's air force and western defenses were on highest alert and Pakistan warned India to stay away from its airpsace.
Pakistani troops fired a surface-to-air missile at fighter escorts for three Indian military helicopters ferrying journalists to see the wreckage of a Pakistani reconnaissance plane shot down over the border the day before. No Indian aircraft were hit.
Each country accused the other of violating its air space and breaching a 1991 agreement barring aircraft from the border region.
But the U.S. said both sides had clearly violated the agreement over the past few days.
Â"We urgently call on both sides to reinstitute this agreement in order to avoid further loss of life and further escalation and heightening of tensions,Â" State Department spokesman James Rubin told reporters in Washington.
Pakistan on Thursday laid to rest 16 sailors killed when the naval reconnaissance plane was downed on Tuesday. At the funeral, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif called the shooting down of the aircraft a "barbaric" and "cowardly" act on India's part.
The air clashes come just weeks after another confrontation cooled down in the northern Kashmir region. The direct confrontation threatened to inflame hostilities on the subcontinent.
Pakistani military spokesman Brig. Rashid Quereshi said a missile was fired at two Indian jet fighters approaching the wreckage of the downed surveillance aircraft. He accused India of trying to steal the wreckage to reinforce its claim that it crashed in Indian territory.
India said Pakistan's French-built, twin-propeller Atlantique was shot down after penetrating 6 miles into Indian airspace and failing to respond to warnings. Pakistan said the aircraft was within its own territory. Pakistan said 16 crew members were killed, but no bodies had been found.
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Indian Air Marshal A.Y. Tipnis, the head of the air force, acknowledged Wednesday that Â"a major portionÂ" of the wreckage was in Pakistan.
Tipnis said the Pakistani plane was shot down because Indian pilots feared it was armed, and could have been scouting possible invasion routes.
In Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, the Cabinet's Defense Committee issued a statement warning that Â"all provocations and violations of Pakistan's airspace would be considered as hostile acts and given a befitting response.Â"
India and Pakistan have fought three wars since they gained independence from Britain in 1947. The aerial clash was the first since they went to war in 1971.
The two nations came to the brink of war this summer during an 11-week confrontation between Pakistan-backed fighters and Indian forces in the mountains of Kashmir.
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