Delhi trashes Jakarta charges of being uninformed about missile test
14 Apr 2007
Indian ministry of external affairs spokesman, Navtej Sarna, refused to take cognizance of the complaint, saying, "A notice was sent a week before the test by the Indian civil aviation authorities to ATC, Jakarta, and other ATCs in the region informing them about the launch window dates, danger time, zone and height. The ATCs were requested to take action to issue the NOTAM (Notice to Aviators and Mariners)."
On the other side of the Bay of Bengal, Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman, Kristiarto Legowo, however, struck a shrill note saying, "We will summon India's diplomat here soon to seek an official clarification. We have to make sure this does not happen in the future."
According to Garuda Indonesia director, Ari Sapari, pilots of the Boeing 747 saw a fast moving streak across the sky, which compelled them to turn around and head back to Jakarta. The flight took off four hours later for its destination. Sapari claimed that there had been no advance warning about the test launch.
Even as Indonesia's transport minister Hatta Rajasa jumped into the fray saying that the country's foreign ministry would lodge a formal protest over the incident, Indian spokesman Sarna shrugged off the furore saying that India had yet to hear from the Indonesian foreign ministry. He said, "I have only seen news reports."
Sarna underlined that India's missile testing programme has always followed the requisite safety precautions and the same was done in the case of Thursday's Agni-III test.
Apparently, an Air India Express flight from Singapore, bound for Chennai via Tiruchirappalli, returned to Singapore following advice from Indian defence officials that the missile test was on.
