India’s Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale on Tuesday failed to answer questions posed by reporters after reading out a prepared statement to media confirming that Indian aircraft intruded into Pakistani airspace earlier in the day.
In his statement, the foreign secretary claimed that the air raid was launched on a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) militant camp across the Line of Control. Pakistan, however, rejected India’s claims, with military spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor stating that Indian military aircraft violated the Line of Control as they intruded from the Muzaffarabad sector but were forced to return owing to the timely response of the Pakistan Air Force.
After reading out his statement, Indian Foreign Secretary Gokhale left the briefing refusing to answer journalists’ questions over the matter.
“Indian aircraft intrusion across LoC in Muzafarabad Sector within AJK was 3-4 miles. Under forced hasty withdrawal aircraft released payload which had free fall in open area. No infrastructure got hit, no casualties. Technical details and other important information to follow,” the Director General of the Inter-Services Public Relations wrote on Twitter.
Major General Asif Ghafoor also tweeted images of the “payload of hastily escaping Indian aircraft” which “fell in [the] open”.