Pakistan on Friday said it has shot down an unmanned Indian quadcopter spying across the Line of Control (LoC) on the Pakistani side.
According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the drone was shot down in the Rakhchikri sector of the LoC.
Pakistan has also recovered wreckage of the drone, which is under the custody of the Army.
The incident of Pakistan shooting down Indian drones violating Pakistan’s airspace is not rare. Last year on November 19 Pakistan had downed an Indian drone at the Aagahi post area in the Rakhchakri sector.
A few years ago, on July 15, 2015, an Indian spy drone, used for photography, was downed in the Bhimber area near the LoC after intruding into Pakistani territory, the ISPR said.
Experts say the drones are often used by Indian forces to spy and map Pakistani positions along the LoC and to determine troop dispositions.
The latest downing of the Indian spy drone comes amid festering Pakistan-India tensions in the disputed Kashmir region.
Tensions have been escalating along the LoC under the right-wing government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who pursues a belligerent policy toward Pakistan.
There have been frequent incidents of firing across the LoC.
Meanwhile, Pakistan has expressed its opposition to the sale of US drone missile system to India on the ground that the move would further exacerbate situation and upset the balance of power in the region.
During meetings with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Pakistan this week raised the issue of Indian state’s human rights violations in Kashmir.
Kashmiris and Pakistanis are observed Friday as Black Day to condemn Indian occupation and brutal suppression of Kashmiri voice in the area under New Delhi’s control.
