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Drone spotted over Indian mission in Islamabad, New Delhi lodges formal protest
The drone was seen within the complex at a time when an event was being held at the mission, people familiar with developments said on condition of anonymity on Friday
New Delhi A drone was spotted over the Indian high commission complex in the Pakistani capital on June 26, prompting New Delhi to formally protest to Islamabad over the security breach and to seek an investigation. The drone was seen within the complex at a time when an event was being held at the mission, people familiar with developments said on condition of anonymity on Friday.
India lodged a formal protest over the incident through a note verbale or unsigned diplomatic correspondence, the people cited above said.
“A drone was spotted over the premises of the Indian high commission in Islamabad on June 26 this year. This has been taken up officially with the government of Pakistan,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi told a weekly news briefing.
“We expect Pakistan to investigate the incident and prevent recurrence of such breach of security,” he added.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry described the Indian statement about the drone being spotted over the Indian mission as a “preposterous” claim and said “no proof whatsoever has been shared with Pakistan to substantiate these allegations”.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri contended this was part of a “propaganda campaign by India” at a time when evidence collected regarding a blast in Lahore on June 23 was “increasingly pointing to external forces with a history of perpetrating state-sponsored terrorism against Pakistan”.
Chaudhri was referring to a car bombing near the residence of Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed that killed three people.
The Indian mission is located within the fortified diplomatic enclave in Islamabad, across a key road that runs in front of Pakistan’s Foreign Office. A residential complex for staffers of the mission is located a short distance from the high commission.
The entire diplomatic enclave is heavily guarded by Pakistani security forces and there is another layer of security near the Indian mission.
The incident in Islamabad occurred hours before a drone attack on an Indian Air Force base at Jammu on June 27 – the first-ever offensive use of unmanned aerial vehicles to target an Indian military facility.
While the IAF has officially confirmed that two low-intensity explosions took place in the technical area of Jammu air force station, senior officials and experts said the attack appeared to have been carried out using drones and marked a new chapter in Pakistan’s proxy war against India in Jammu and Kashmir.
National Security Adviser Ajit Doval had raised the issue of drones being used by terrorists at the recent meeting of NSAs of the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Doval had specifically referred to the need to monitor new technologies used by terrorists including drones for smuggling of weapons.
Responding to several questions on Pakistan’s possible involvement in the drone attack in Jammu and the neighbouring country’s efforts to tackle terrorism and terror financing, Bagchi noted that an investigation was in progress into the Jammu air force station case and said New Delhi expects Islamabad to take credible and irreversible action against terror networks and proxies.
“As far as terrorism and terror financing are concerned, we have a zero tolerance policy. We condemn terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. All countries must take credible action against terrorism, including by putting an end to cross-border movement of terrorists, [and] ending terrorist safe havens and infrastructure and their financing channels,” he said.
India wants Pakistan to take “credible, verifiable and irreversible action against terrorist networks and proxies operating from territories under its control” and to bring to justice the perpetrators of terrorist attacks, including the 2008 Mumbai attacks and the 2016 attack on Pathankot air force station, Bagchi said.
