Pakistan today retracted its charge that Indian planes violated its airspace with President Asif Ali Zardari saying it was a “technical incursion”.
“There are two versions about the incursions. My version is the correct version,” Zardari told a news conference with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown here. “Incursions do happen,” he said adding that the planes were flying at about 40,000 feet to 50,000 feet when they executed a turn that “slightly entered Pakistan soil”.
“It is not an incursion as such. It is a technical incursion,” Zardari said, easing tensions spiked by the Mumbai terror attacks. Pakistan Air Force (PAF) spokesman Air Commodore Humayun Viqar Zephyr too described the purported incident as a “technical incursion of a minor nature made by mistake”. He told TV channels the PAF was not on red alert and was performing its duties according to routine. Earlier, Indian Air Force (IAF) spokesman Wing Commander Mahesh Upasani had rubbished the Pakistani claim and said there had not been any violation of the Pakistani airspace.
Top officials in the IAF headquarters in New Delhi said the episode seemed like a “propaganda” and there was no substance in the Pakistani claim.
The war of words between India and Pakistan on the issue came as their armed forces girded up to a state of vigil along the borders with tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad mounting over the terror strikes in Mumbai, which has been blamed on Pakistan-based elements.