ISLAMABAD, 29 January 2003 — Pakistan’s military said yesterday it had shot down a pilotless Indian spy plane that crossed into Pakistani airspace in the disputed Kashmir region.
The military said two Indian "remote piloted vehicles" (RPVs) had crossed over the Line of Control, or cease-fire line, in the past 48 hours.
"Pakistani troops took appropriate measures which forced the Indian RPV’s to abandon their spying mission. One intruding RPV was seen falling in flames," the military said in a statement.
The statement said more than 200 similar violations by India had taken place in 2002, "the proof of which has been provided with the shooting down of these unmanned aircraft in the past."
India, however, denied the incident. "We have checked with all our forward areas and no such incident has taken place," an Indian defense spokesman told Reuters in Jammu, winter capital of Indian Kashmir.
The nuclear-armed neighbors went to the brink of war last year after New Delhi accused Pakistani-based militants of attacking its Parliament. Tensions have since eased, although the two sides each expelled four diplomats and embassy officials last week.
The rivals also frequently exchange artillery and small arms fire across the Line of Control and Pakistan said it had killed at least five Indian soldiers in exchanges of fire on Monday.
Pakistan said the Indian aircraft had crossed two km (one mile) and six km (four miles) respectively into Pakistani-controlled Kashmir. The military-run Inter-Services Public Relations department said the incursions took place beginning late Sunday, but didn’t say when the plane was shot down. Earlier, Pakistani police said unprovoked Indian firing had killed a 12-year-old boy in Pakistani Kashmir on Monday evening.
The two countries have fought three wars since gaining independence from Britain in 1947. Last year, they deployed hundreds of thousands of troops along their border in the biggest military buildup since their last war in 1971. New Delhi accuses Islamabad of arming and training Kashmiris who have waged a secessionist campaign in Indian-controlled Kashmir for more than a decade. (Agencies)
