The United States said on Monday that it had ‘no indication’ that India’s missile launch into Pakistan last week was ‘anything other than an accident’.
US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price during a press briefing answered a question about the occurrence and referred the Pakistani journalist to reach out to the Indian Defence Ministry for a “follow-up”.
“We have no indication, as you also heard from our Indian partners, that this incident was anything other than an accident. We refer you, of course, to the Indian Ministry of Defence for any follow-up. They issued a statement on March 9 to explain precisely what had happened,” Price commented, adding that the US did not have a further comment.
The journalist further asked Price whether the US had raised concerns with India regarding uranium theft in the country and the subsequent arrest of seven people suspected to be part of a national gang involved in the illegal trade.
“I’m not familiar with that particular incident”, the spokesperson said, further stating that nuclear safety was an ongoing conversation, particularly for nuclear-armed countries.
India admits to ‘accident’
Last week, India admitted that it accidentally fired a missile into Pakistan and ordered a high-level court of inquiry into the incident that could have led to a major disaster or misunderstanding between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
The United States said on Monday that it had ‘no indication’ that India’s missile launch into Pakistan last week was ‘anything other than an accident’.
US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price during a press briefing answered a question about the occurrence and referred the Pakistani journalist to reach out to the Indian Defence Ministry for a “follow-up”.
“We have no indication, as you also heard from our Indian partners, that this incident was anything other than an accident. We refer you, of course, to the Indian Ministry of Defence for any follow-up. They issued a statement on March 9 to explain precisely what had happened,” Price commented, adding that the US did not have a further comment.
The journalist further asked Price whether the US had raised concerns with India regarding uranium theft in the country and the subsequent arrest of seven people suspected to be part of a national gang involved in the illegal trade.
“I’m not familiar with that particular incident”, the spokesperson said, further stating that nuclear safety was an ongoing conversation, particularly for nuclear-armed countries.
India admits to ‘accident’
Last week, India admitted that it accidentally fired a missile into Pakistan and ordered a high-level court of inquiry into the incident that could have led to a major disaster or misunderstanding between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
