RAWALPINDI: The Pakistan Army troops Wednesday shot down an Indian spy quadcopter in Rakhchikri Sector along the Line of Control (LoC), says the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) in a statement.

The quadcopter intruded 650 meters on Pakistan’s side of the LoC. This is not the first time that India has unsuccessfully tried to spy on Pakistan with the help of quadcopters, as the Pakistan Army had also shot down an Indian quadcopter that intruded into Pakistan’s airspace along the Line of control on Thursday, April 9.

The quadcopter was shot down after it intruded 600 meters inside Pakistan’s territory for conducting surveillance along the Line of Control (LoC). The Indian quadcopter entered the Sankh Sector along the LoC. The violation was aggressively responded to by the Pakistan Army troops by shooting down the quadcopter.

"Such unwarranted acts by the Indian Army are a clear violation of established norms, existing air agreement between the two countries, and reflect Indian Army’s consistent disregard for the Ceasefire Understanding of 2003," said the ISPR in a statement. The Indian Army, however, rejected the claim saying the quadcopter was not theirs.

Last year, the Pakistan Army had shot down three quadcopters. The first quadcopter was shot down on January 1, 2019 in Bagh Sector. A day later, India again tried to violate Pakistani borders in the Satwal sector, which was thwarted by the Pakistan Army.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan Wednesday said the Hindutva Modi government was becoming a threat to India’s neighbours and regional peace.

In tweets, the prime minister said, “The Hindutva Supremacist Modi Govt with its arrogant expansionist policies, akin to Nazi's Lebensraum (Living Space), is becoming a threat to India's neighbours. Bangladesh through Citizenship Act, border disputes with Nepal & China, & Pak threatened with false flag operation”.

He pointed out that all this was after illegal annexation of Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJ&K), a war crime under the 4th Geneva Convention and laying claim to Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

“All this after illegal annexation of IOJK, a war crime under 4th Geneva Convention, & laying claim to AJK,” he said. The prime minister wrote, “I have always maintained the fascist Modi Govt is not only a threat to India's minorities by relegating them to 2nd class citizens' status, but also threat to regional peace”.

Meanwhile, rubbishing Indian propaganda, Minister for Foreign Affairs Shah Mahmood Qureshi Wednesday said Pakistan had nothing to do with the China-India standoff but the Indian aggressive policy towards its neighbours was threatening regional peace and security.

Talking to different television channels, the foreign minister said China never reacted aggressively rather offered India dialogue to settle the Ladakh issue, but by increasing tension, India wanted to distract the world’s attention from its state terrorism in the occupied Kashmir.

Tensions between China and India heightened when Beijing captured a group of Indian army personnel who violated the Line of Control in Sikkim and Ladakh. China says India is constructing illegal defense-related structures near the Galwan Valley and reportedly, the Chinese army captured a group of Indian army personnel but later released them.

The foreign minister said India was raising tensions in the region by carrying out construction activities in the disputed territory. A war was fought between India and China in 1962 and again, India is resorting to aggressive posturing in the same territory, he added.

Qureshi urged the Indian government to show a responsible behaviour by using the mechanisms of dialogue and consultations to resolve the disputes. “India’s intentions do not look good. It has already heated up the occupied Kashmir front and you know very well its attitude towards Nepal [on the border issue],” Qureshi told reporters.

New Delhi is also sabotaging peace in Afghanistan, he added. The foreign minister said India was carrying out worst terrorism against innocent Kashmiris and urged the international community to take notice of the Indian actions.

“Pakistan has said this again and again. I have said this to the UN Secretary General and written letters to the UN Security Council that India is threatening peace [in the region] through its aggressive behaviour,” Qureshi said.

He said India was also fanning Islamophobia by amending its citizenship laws to deprive millions of Muslims of their citizenship. Hindutva is being promoted and secularism being buried in India, he remarked. Even millions of people within India are against Modi’s policies and many voices are rising in the country.

https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/663976-pakistan-downs-indian-drone