Army opens fire after Pakistani chopper violates Indian airspace in J-K’s Poonch

A Pakistani helicopter violated Indian air space along the Line of Control in Poonch sector on Sunday afternoon.

Defence spokesman Lt Col Devender Anand said a white-coloured Pakistani helicopter violated Indian airspace around noon on Sunday.

An army officer later said the chopper was likely to be a civilian craft.

He added that air sentries at forward locations had engaged it with small arms, a move intended to warn the pilot about the intrusion and force the chopper to turn back.

Defence sources said the chopper flew over Gulpur area across the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir’s Krishna Ghati sector at 12:13 pm before returning to Pakistani airspace.

A 30-second video of the chopper flying over Indian airspace was also released.

The incident comes at a time when relations between the two neighbours are at a low.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had launched a particularly stinging attack on Pakistan at the UN General Assembly on Saturday, accusing it of



funding and glorifying terrorists and warning of a “conflagration” if terrorism was not rooted out.

Just an hour before the intrusion was reported on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his monthly radio programme, too had underscored India’s commitment to peace and its commitment to take it forward but not at the cost of compromising our self-respect and sovereignty of our nation.

“It has now been decided that our soldiers will give a befitting reply to whosoever makes an attempt to destroy the atmosphere of peace and progress in our nation,” PM Modi said, a message that was widely seen to have been targeted at Pakistan.

In February this year, a Pakistani military helicopter flew dangerously close to the LoC) in Khari Karmara area of Poonch district, where Indian army had foiled an attack by Pakistan’s Border Action Team (BAT) on January 18 killing a heavily armed terrorist.

An intelligence official had then said the Pakistani helicopter had come within 300 meters of the LoC “in clear violation of international conventions”.