<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;">The Indian air force on Tuesday sacked three officers for the accidental firing of a cruise missile into nuclear-armed rival Pakistan following a months-long investigation by New Delhi.</span><br></div><div><br></div><div>The unarmed BrahMos surface-to-surface supersonic missile was accidently launched from a secret military base in northern India in early March before the projectile landed roughly 125 kilometers inside Pakistani territory without causing any damage to life or property.</div><div><br></div><div>A statement by the air force said that a probe into the incident had found three of its officers guilty of violating standard operating procedures that led to the mishap.</div><div><br></div><div>"These three officers have primarily been held responsible for the incident. Their services have been terminated by the Central Govt with immediate effect," the statement said.</div><div><br></div><div>Islamabad had said that a "super-sonic flying object" cruising at 40,000 feet from India had violated its airspace and hit an uninhabited civilian area on March 9.</div><div><br></div><div>New Delhi had immediately acknowledged the mistake, which Islamabad said endangered civil air planes and lodged a diplomatic protest.</div><div><br></div><div>India had termed the incident "deeply regrettable" and promised an investigation at the highest level.</div><div><br></div><div>Pakistan had demanded a joint probe into the misfire and questioned New Delhi's nuclear and missile safety protocols.</div><div><br></div><div>But in a rare instance, both the nuclear-armed nations unusually downplayed the incident despite a history of deep mistrust and hostility.</div><div><br></div><div>The relationship between the two nuclear-armed Asian neighbours remains tense, and the two countries have fought three wars since gaining independence from Britain in 1947.</div><div><br></div><div>They were on the brink of another war in February 2019 after India launched airstrikes inside Pakistan over claims that a militant group based there was behind a suicide bombing that killed 41 Indian paramilitary soldiers in the disputed Kashmir region.</div><div><br></div><div>The airstrikes led to diplomatic tensions, counterattacks by Pakistan fighter planes and a dogfight that saw the downing of an Indian fighter jet and brief detention of its pilot.</div><div><br></div><div>BrahMos is one of India's frontline nuclear-armed projectiles and is believed to be among the fastest cruise missiles in the world. It can be launched from land, sea and air.</div><div><br></div><div>The cruise missiles -- travelling at three times the speed of sound -- are jointly developed by India and Russia, and named after India's river Brahmaputra and Russia's Moskva River, with ranges varying from 300 to 700 kilometers. - AFP&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>