Navy says Pak's claims on Indian submarine false propaganda

The Indian Navy on Tuesday dismissed as 'false propaganda' Pakistan's claim that it had thwarted an attempt by an Indian submarine to enter the country's territorial waters.

In a statement, the Pakistan Navy claimed in Islamabad that it used specialised skills to ward off the Indian submarine from entering Pakistani waters.

"We have witnessed Pakistan indulging in false propaganda and spread of misinformation. The Indian Navy does not take cognizance of such propaganda.

"Our deployments remain undeterred," the Indian Navy said.

In a brief statement, it said the Indian Navy remains deployed as necessary to protect national maritime interests.

The claim by Pakistan Navy came in the midst of latest flare-up between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

Pakistan also released a purported video of what it alleged as an Indian submarine trying to sneak into Pakistani waters. The image showed that the footage was made at 20.35 hours on March 4.

Official sources in New Delhi said no Indian submarine was near Pakistani waters and all the major powers having presence in the Indian Ocean knew that no Indian naval asset was in the vicinity of Pakistani waters.

The Indian and Pakistani navies were engaged in a confrontation during the 1971 war.

"The Pakistan Navy used its specialised skills to ward off the submarine, successfully keeping it from entering Pakistani waters," a spokesperson of Pakistan Navy claimed.

"The Indian submarine was not targeted keeping in view Pakistan's policy of peace," the official said, adding that India must learn from this incident and "move towards peace".

"The Pakistan Navy is always ready to guard its territorial waters and is capable of responding to any kind of aggression with full force," he said.

*****

India trashes Pak's claim of downing IAF's Sukhoi jet during last week's dogfight

The defence ministry on Tuesday trashed Pakistan's claim of shooting down a Sukhoi-30 aircraft of the Indian Air Force during an aerial combat last week, saying the claim appeared to be a cover up for loss of a Pakistani jet during the dogfight.

The Pakistani Air Force carried out an unsuccessful aerial combat on February 27 as a retaliation to India's strike at a major terrorist training camp of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror group in Pakistan's Balakot.

Sharing details of Pakistan Air Force's aerial combat, the ministry said all the Sukhoi-30 aircraft deployed to check Pakistani jets landed back safely.

"False claim by Pakistan of shooting down a Su-30, appears to be a cover up for loss of its own aircraft," the ministry said.

Pakistan downed a MiG 21 aircraft of the IAF while India shot down an F-16 jet of the Pakistan Air Force during the dogfight.

Pakistan had claimed that it downed two fighter jets of India during the dogfight.

"Build up of PAF aircraft on their side of LoC was noticed in time and additional aircraft were scrambled to tackle the adversary. In their attempt to attack our ground targets, PAF aircraft were engaged effectively," the ministry said.

"From IAF side, Mirage-2000, Su-30 and MiG-21 Bison aircraft were involved in the engagement and PAF aircraft were forced to withdraw in a hurry, which is also evident from large missed distances of the weapons dropped by them," it said.

The ministry said, during combat, use of F-16 by Pakistan and multiple launches of AMRAAM missiles were 'conclusively observed'.

The United States had barred Pakistan from using the F-16s against any third country and it was only allowed to operate the fighter in self defence and for anti-terror missions.

"Prompt and correct tactical action by Su-30 aircraft, in response to AMRAAM launch, defeated the missile.

"Parts of the missile fell in area East of Rajouri in J&K, injuring a civilian on ground," the defence ministry said.

The IAF on February 28 displayed parts of the AMRAAM beyond visual range air-to-air missile as evidence at a press briefing.

The JeM had claimed responsibility for the Pulwama attack. India struck JeM's training facility to avenge the Pulwama attack.