The Pakistan Army on Tuesday shot down an Indian quadcopter that had violated the country’s airspace along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Manawar sector of Bhimber district.
According to security officials, the quadcopter was attempting surveillance of the region when it troops intercepted and brought it down. They said the timely action had prevented an attempt at cross-border espionage, adding the incident underscored the Army’s professionalism and defensive readiness.
The officials said the Pakistan Army was fully alert to respond swiftly to any act of aggression along the border.
India scaled down diplomatic ties with Pakistan and announced the unilateral suspension of the Indus Water Treaty after 26 people were killed in a terrorist attack in the Pahalgam region of India-held Kashmir. Islamabad has vehemently denied Delhi’s attempts to link the attack to Pakistan.
In response to India’s aggression, Pakistan has also scaled down its diplomatic ties, closed its airspace to Indian owned and operated airlines and announced it reserves the right to hold in abeyance bilateral agreements such as the Simla Agreement.
Last week, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Islamabad is willing to cooperate with any impartial investigation into the incident, but has not yet received any positive response from India.
Since the severing of ties, troops along the LoC have exchange fire multiple times, even as multiple nations have urged both Pakistan and India to exercise restraint and de-escalate the situation to avoid conflict.