Amid the growing uncertain political situation of the country, Foreign Office, Friday, reminded diplomats stationed in Islamabad that they are required to follow certain diplomatic norms, while holding meetings with the country’s politicians.

Speaking at his weekly media briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Asim Iftikhar said there were certain diplomatic norms that the foreign diplomats were required to fulfil, prior to holding meetings with the country’s politicians.

The spokesperson’s statement comes in response to a question about the recent meetings by certain Western countries’ diplomats with the opposition parties’ leadership amid the ongoing political standoff in the wake of a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan.

“Yes, there are diplomatic norms that’s what we have been conveying to the foreign diplomats,” the spokesperson said without giving further details. He also declined to comment on various statements by the political leaders, particularly by those belonging to the opposition parties with regard to the country’s foreign policy.

Commenting on what he stated that the grave incident of unprovoked and flagrant violation of Pakistan’s airspace by an Indian supersonic missile that fell to ground near Mian Channu causing damage to civilian property on 9 March 2022, he said the flight path of the missile also endangered many international and domestic commercial flights both in Indian and Pakistani airspace as well as human life and property on ground.

He said the Indian side had not yet responded to the questions conveyed by Pakistan. The grave nature of the incident raises several fundamental questions regarding security protocols and technical safeguards against accidental or unauthorized launch of missiles in a nuclearised environment. Therefore, such a serious matter cannot be addressed with simplistic explanations proffered by the Indian authorities.

He reiterated the questions, adding that those need to be answered include: India must explain the measures and procedures in place to prevent accidental missile launches and the particular circumstances of this incident; India needs to clearly explain the type and specifications of the missile that fell in Pakistani territory; India also needs to explain the flight path/trajectory of the accidentally-launched missile and how it ultimately turned and entered into Pakistan?

“We believe that the whole incident indicates many loopholes and technical lapses of serious nature in Indian handling of strategic weapons. Indian decision to hold an internal court of inquiry is not sufficient since the missile ended up in Pakistani territory. Pakistan has demanded a joint probe to accurately establish the facts surrounding the incident,” he added.

The story was originally published in Business Recorder on March 19, 2022.