Balakot air strike: Pakistan summons India's diplomat over 'violation of its territorial sovereignty'

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Tuesday summoned India's acting High Commissioner here and condemned the "violation of its territorial sovereignty" by Indian fighter jets.

In a statement, the Foreign Office said that at "approximately 02:54 hours (local time), 8 Indian aircraft were effectively intercepted by the Pakistani Air Force jets and forced" to return.

The Indian jets "randomly released their ordinance which landed in an uninhabited remote area," it added.

"The Acting Foreign Secretary summoned the Indian Acting High Commissioner and strongly condemned the Indian violation of Pakistan's sovereignty and territorial integrity," it said.

It said that the "baseless, reprehensible Indian claims of targeting a large terrorist camp and resultant causalities to placate Indian domestic audience and electioneering were strongly rebutted."

The Acting Foreign Secretary categorically stated that Indian "aggression was a threat to regional peace and stability and would get a befitting response by Pakistan at a time and place of its choosing."

The official also condemned the "baseless" Indian allegations against Pakistan's involvement in the Pulwama terror attack.

India bombed and destroyed Jaish-e-Mohammed's (JeM) biggest training camp in Balakot in Pakistan's restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, about 80-km from the Line of Control, early Tuesday, killing a "very large number" of terrorists, trainers and senior commanders, officials said in New Delhi.

The air strikes came 12 days after the JeM carried out the Pulwama terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir that killed 40 CRPF soldiers.

Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria was called to New Delhi for consultations in the wake of the attack.