By NNN-PTI,
New Delhi : Rubbishing a Pakistani claim that Indian Air Force fighter jets flew into their airspace, India Sunday vehemently denied media reports in this regard, claiming that it seemed like a mere propaganda.
“There has not been any airspace violation as has been alleged,” IAF spokesperson Wing Commander Mahesh Upasani told PTI Sunday.
Pakistan had alleged Saturday night that IAF fighter jets had violated the country’s airspace in two separate sectors.
Television channels in Islamabad also claimed that Pakistan Air Force (PAF) had scrambled its own fighter aircraft to force the IAF jets in the Lahore and Pakistan- Occupied-Kashmir sectors to return.
A Pakistan Air Force spokesman said in Islamabad that IAF jets were “forced to retreat” after Pakistani aircraft responded. He did not say when the airspace violations had occurred or how long the Indian jets had remained in Pakistani airspace.
Separately, Pakistan’s Information Minister Sherry Rehman said when the matter was taken up with Indian authorities, they had described the violations as “inadvertent”.
“We have spoken to the IAF. They have informed us that this is an inadvertent incursion. We have made a routine response and the PAF is on alert. There is no need to hype the issue further than this,” she told Dawn News channel in Pakistan.
Meanwhile, top officials in the Air headquarters here said the episode only seemed like “a propaganda” and there was no substance in the Pakistani claim.