Pakistan lodges protest against Indian jets' air space violation

ISLAMABAD: After describing it a "technical mistake", Pakistan on Thursday formally lodged its complaint over the alleged airspace violation last week by two Indian Air Force fighter jets.

The Indian deputy high commissioner was summoned to the foreign ministry and a diplomatic note was handed over to him, a statement of the Foreign Office spokesman said.

The Indian official was conveyed about Pakistan's concerns over the technical air space violations by the Indian aircraft on Dec 12 and 13, which were against the 1991 agreement between India and Pakistan on Prevention of Air Space Violations, the statement said.

Pakistan Air Force spokesman Hamayun Waqar said that Indian planes violated Pakistan's airspace last Saturday in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir and over the eastern city of Lahore but were forced by Pakistani fighter jets to retreat.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari Sunday said at a news conference that the Indian aircraft had made a "technical mistake" while flying over an altitude of some 50,000 feet.

India has denied any violation of Pakistan's airspace.