Hit and miss

Accidental firing of a missile must be explained

The lack of transparency over the accidental firing of a missile by India that landed 124 km into Pakistani territory on March 9 begs many questions the government and defence establishment urgently need to answer. This is a bizarre development that raises the risks of escalation between two nuclear-powered countries that have not enjoyed the friendliest of relations in recent years. Within this context, it goes to the credit of both that a potential crisis was averted by cool-headed diplomatic responses from both sides, helped no doubt by the fact that there was, fortunately, no loss of life when the