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| February 17, 2006 | Friday | Muharram 18, 1427 |
India accused of airspace violation
ISLAMABAD, Feb 16: Pakistan on Thursday accused Indian aircraft of violating its airspace and naval vessels of sailing in its territorial waters, and said it had lodged a protest with New Delhi.
Hours earlier, New Delhi said it had summoned a Pakistani diplomat to officially protest the killing of an Indian fisherman in the Arabian Sea on the same day.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry statement alleged the Indian intrusion happened on Monday off Pakistan’s southern coast in the Arabian sea.
An Indian maritime aircraft had made “a number of low altitude Passes” over a Pakistan Maritime Security Agency vessel that was patrolling to apprehend and clear Indian fishing boats that were “poaching well inside Pakistan’s exclusive economic zone,” it said.
In addition, two Indian Coast Guard patrol craft approached “in a provocative posture with manned armament pointing towards the Pakistani vessel,” it said.
The statement said Pakistan had lodged a protest with India through its embassy in Islamabad.
Earlier in New Delhi, Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna spokesman said Shantilal Mangal, a 21-year-old fisherman, was shot dead when Pakistan Maritime Security Agency guards allegedly fired on his boat on Monday while he was fishing in Indian waters not far from the unmarked boundary that separates the two nations’ waters.
He said India also had demanded the immediate release of 25 crewmen from three Indian fishing boats that were towed by Pakistani patrol boats on Feb. 13 into Pakistani waters, Mr Sarna said.
Pakistan’s statement made no mention of the dead fisherman or details of any arrests.
The territorial waters between Pakistan and India are not Clearly demarcated, and fishermen from both countries are often detained by each other’s naval patrols and sometimes spend years in jail before they are released.
Shooting incidents, however, are rare.—AP
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