India yesterday lost two fighter aircraft over northern Kashmir state, but claimed only one of them was shot down by Pakistan during sorties to dislodge armed Islamic guerrillas from the disputed region. Reports from Pakistan said one pilot had died while the other was in captivity.
The defence spokesman, Air Vice-Marshal S.K. Malik, said one of the fighters, a MiG-21, was shot down by a Pakistani surface-to-air missile around noon at Marpola close to the Indian side of the line of control between the two countries.
It had reportedly come to the aid of a MiG-27 whose pilot ejected following an engine "flame-out" that occurred when it was preparing to attack nearly 600 Pakistani-backed Muslim guerrilla's spread across a mountainous ridge at heights above 16,000 feet in Kargil-Dras region of Kashmir.
India claims the guerrilla fighters, supported by the Pakistani army, were trying to infiltrate into Kashmir to bolster the flagging morale of Islamic militants fighting for an independent homeland. Another 400 militants were waiting to cross into India from the Gilgit area in Pakistan-held Kashmir, an army spokesman said.
The ground attack MiG-27 was the first fighter to be shot down by the Pakistanis in the 28 years since the third war between the two nuclear-capable neighbours. "We consider this a provocative act and will take appropriate action," said Air Vice-Marshal Malik. He said the military had tactics to counter such provocation.
Pakistan, however, claimed it had shot down the two Indian fighters after they crossed the line of control and said the wreckage of the two planes was on Pakistani territory. The Indian Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, immediately convened an emergency cabinet meeting with military chiefs to assess the situation following news of the aircraft's downing. "We have taken a decision, but I cannot tell you at this point of time," the Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes, said afterwards.
"There is no need for panic," said India's National Security adviser, Mr Brajesh Mishra. In an interview on Star television, he said India had no intention of escalating the situation and merely wanted to evict the intruders from its territory. Mr Mishra, however, warned that there could be losses on both sides as India continued operations against the militants.
India, meanwhile, claimed success in dislodging the intruders from at least two vantage positions at around 17,000 feet on the second day of air strikes against them even as Pakistani artillery pounded Kargil town, close to the border.
But the air strikes by fighter aircraft and helicopter gun ships have raised tensions between the two nuclear powers and alarmed world leaders who are trying to defuse the situation though their missions in the capitals, Delhi and Islamabad. The envoys of several countries including the United States and some European countries met senior officials yesterday to try and calm things down.
India's financial markets, meanwhile, plunged following the incident and the rupee fell drastically against the dollar.
