ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s state-run media said on Tuesday that the country’s army had shot down an Indian “spy” drone in the disputed Kashmir territory on Sunday, alleging it had “intruded” into the country’s airspace.
The state-run media said Pakistani forces, at 12:55 p.m. local time on Sunday, shot down a quadcopter that belonged to the Indian Army. It said that the drone was “spying” in the area near the Line of Control— a de facto border that divides the disputed Kashmir region between India and Pakistan.
Pakistan often claims downing unmanned Indian spy drones in Kashmir, where the two sides often trade fire as well.
“Pakistan Army has shot down Indian spying quadcopter that intruded into country’s airspace along the Line of Control,” Radio Pakistan said in a report, adding that its remains were discovered on Monday.
“An insignia of the Indian Army can be seen in the pictures which confirms that the quadcopter belongs to the Indian Army.”
Relations between Pakistan and India have been strained over the internationally disputed Kashmir territory since August 2019, when New Delhi revoked Muslim-majority Kashmir’s decades-old semi-autonomous status. The Modi-led government’s decision triggered anger in Indian-administered Kashmir and in Pakistan.
Five years earlier on Feb. 27, 2019, Pakistan said it shot down two Indian warplanes in Kashmir and captured a pilot in response to an airstrike by Indian aircraft targeting militants in Pakistan. India had said the strikes targeted Pakistan-based militants responsible for a suicide bombing that killed 40 Indian troops in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir. Pakistan denies involvement in the episode.
Since gaining independence from the British in 1947, the two nuclear-armed neighbors have fought three wars. Out of these, two were fought over Kashmir which both claim in full but administer only parts of.
