China’s Indian drone invasion claim: Here are other such incidents

Indian drone invasion claims: Representational photo

China on Thursday claimed that an Indian drone ‘invaded’ its airspace and crashed. The Ministry of Defence, however, rejected China’s claims and said that Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) lost contact with ground control due to a technical glitch and crossed over the Line of Actual Control in Sikkim sector.

China’s state-run Xinhua news agency reported that members of the People’s Liberation Army retrieved the drone from an undisclosed location. “India’s move has infringed upon China’s territorial sovereignty, and we are strongly dissatisfied and opposed to this,” Zhang Shuili, deputy head of the combat bureau of the Western Theatre Command’s joint staff department, told Xinhua.

However, this is not the first time that such claims have been made by our neighbouring countries. Here are a few more instances :

October 30, 2017: Pakistan Army claims to shot down an Indian “spy drone” in Rakhchikri sector along the Line of Control (LoC) after it entered its airspace. Pakistan military spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor took to Twitter to say the “wreckage” of the drone had been held by the army. Ghafoor tweeted, “Indian quadcopter spying across LoC in Rakhchikri sector shot down by Pak Army shooters.”

The images showed a DJI Phantom drone which is among the most popular drones, easily available across the world.

November 19, 2016: The Pakistan Army claims to have shot down an Indian quadcopter which it alleged had “intruded” into Pakistani territory across the heavily-guarded LoC.

“Indian quadcopter has been shot down by Pakistani troops at 1645 (hrs), fell in Pak territory & taken over by Pak troops,” army spokesman Lt Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa had tweeted.

He claimed the drone had “intruded 60 metres into the Pakistan side of LoC” and its debris “fell near Agahi Post in Rakhchakri Sector”.

July 15, 2015: Pakistan military claims to have shot down an Indian “spy drone”, alleging that it was being used for aerial photography near the LoC. It had also said that the drone was “brought down for violation of Pakistan’s territorial integrity”. However, India had dismissed the claim. “Some reports of a drone crash in PoK are being referred to. No drone or UAV crash of the Indian Army has taken place,” a spokesperson of the Indian Army had said.