Atlantique Incident

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An Atlantique plane belonging to the Royal Dutch Navy. The downed Pakistan Navy plane was an identical one.

The Atlantique Incident was a major event in which a Pakistan Navy Breguet Atlantic (Breguet Br.1150 Atlantique) plane, flight Atlantic-91, was shot down by the Indian Air Force citing violation of airspace. The episode took place in the Rann of Kutch on August 10, 1999 just a month after the Kargil War, creating a tense atmosphere between India and Pakistan. This was the Pakistani Navy's first and only loss of an airplane to hostile fire.

1 The confrontation
2 Claims and counter claims
3 Rise in tensions
4 Lawsuit
5 Aftermath
6 See also
7 Notes
8 References

[edit] The confrontation

HUD/VTR still showing the R-60 streaking towards the Atlantique in its final moments.

The French-built naval plane Breguet Atlantique, used primarily for patrol and reconnaissance (though capable of being fitted with air-to-surface missiles and anti-submarine weapons), left Mehran (Sindh province) Naval Base in Pakistan at 9:15 a.m.(PST). An Indian Air Force ground radar picked up the flight path of the plane ("Atlantic-91"^[1]) approaching the International Border.^[2] Two IAF Mig-21 fighter interceptors of No.45 Squadron, from the Indian airbase at Naliya in the Kutch region, were soon scrambled by the IAF. After a series of manoeuvres - and a conflicting version of events from both sides - the two jets were given clearance to shoot down the Pakistani plane. At 11:17 a.m. IST (10:47 a.m. PST), nearly two hours after takeoff from Pakistan, the Atlantique was intercepted and an Infrared homing air-to-air missile was fired at it by Sqn Ldr P.K. Bundela, hitting the engine on the port side of the plane. This resulted in the aircraft losing control and spiralling towards a crash at approximately 1100 hours PST, killing all 16 on board the "Atlantic-91", including five officers of the Pakistan Navy.

The incident was Pakistan Navy's first and only loss of an aircraft to hostile fire in its history, and the biggest combat related casualty for the Navy since the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.

[edit] Claims and counter claims

The region in Kutch, (marked in red) where the incident took place.

The event immediately sparked claims and counter claims by both nations. Pakistan claimed that the plane was unarmed and the debris was found on the Pakistan side of the border,^[3] and hence there was no violation of Indian airspace. It also claimed that the plane was merely on "a routine training mission in the Sir Creek area".^[4] The Pakistani Prime Minister stated during the funeral service of the airmen that the shooting was a "a barbaric act".^[5]

Enlarged map of the region showing Sir Creek and Kori Creek area where the plane was shot down and wreckage was found.

The Indian Air force, however, claimed that the aeroplane did not respond to international protocol and that the plane acted in a "hostile" manner, adding that the debris of a downed aircraft could fall over a wide radius. Indian sources also claim that the Pakistani Information Minister, Mushahid Hussein, was initially quoted by the BBC as saying that the aircraft was on a "surveillance" mission.^[6]. India also claimed that the plane violated a bilateral agreement signed between India and Pakistan in 1991. The treaty signed between India and Pakistan states that no military aircraft is supposed to come anywhere near 10 km from the border^[7] Indian experts also questioned why a training mission was being done so close to international borders, since all air forces clearly demarcate training areas for flight, which are located well away from the borders. They also stated that the Pakistani claim was untenable since the primary role of the Atlantique is for operations over the sea and that to carry out a training flight over land deep inside foreign territory was an indication of its use in a surveillance role.^[6] India displayed part of the wreckage of the Pakistani naval aircraft at New Delhi airport the next day. Pakistan refutes this, instead claiming that the wreckage was removed from its side of the border by IAF helicopters.^[3]

While Pakistan said that the plane was unarmed and the debris was within Pakistani territory, the Indians maintained that warnings had been given to the Atlantique and that its flight trajectory meant it could have fallen on either side of the border. According to the Indian version of events, the MiGs tried to escort it to a nearby Indian base, when the Pakistani aircraft turned abruptly and tried to make a dash for the border; it was only then that it was fired upon. India claimed that the debris was found in a radius of 2 km on either side of the border and that the intrusion took place 10 km inside the Kori Creek, which is Indian territory. Pakistan requested that the matter be taken up in the UN. Indian officials claimed that there had been previous violations in the area and pointed out that in the previous year a Pakistani unmanned surveillance aircraft had intruded 150 km inside the Indian border, coming close to the Bhuj air base before the IAF spotted it and brought it down with several missiles.^[8] They also added that Pakistan military aircraft had violated Indian airspace at least 50 times since January of that year, showing videotapes of Pakistani Atlantiques "buzzing", or flying provocatively near the Indian Navy's warships in the Indian Ocean. Some Indian analysts stated that the Atlantique was nearly destroyed in 1983 on a similar encounter and noted other close encounters from Pakistan Naval planes.^[9]^[10]

Independent defense experts stated that the Atlantique was probably conducting a "probe" on India's air defence system, mainly the radar equipment in the border area; however, they advised that it was not part of any planned aggressive military action by Pakistan.^[11] Many countries, including the G8, the permanent members of the UN Security Council as well as the western media questioned the wisdom behind Pakistan's decision to fly military aircraft so close to the Indian border.^[12] They advised that Pakistan should be more cautious, especially after the Kargil episode.^[12]

[edit] Rise in tensions

On the day following the attack, an IAF helicopter carrying journalists to the site of the attack was attacked by the Pakistan Army with a surface-to-air missile. Pakistani officials asserted that two Indian jets had intruded in midafternoon into Pakistani airspace near the Atlantique wreckage site, along the border between the Indian state of Gujarat and Pakistan's Sindh Province, and were then fired upon by Pakistan. U.S. and Indian television journalists traveling in one helicopter said the aircraft shook severely and a flash appeared in the air, suggesting a missile had been fired at it. The IAF thus aborted their mission to display Atlantique wreckage on Indian soil.^[11]

Following this, and the rising tensions in the area coupled by the fact that the Sir Creek was a disptued territory, both the countries' militaries near the Rann of Kutch and nearby were put on high alert. Pakistan sent a company of commandos, equipped with guided, shoulder-fired, surface-to-air missiles, to the site near the border. Coming barely weeks after the Kargil Conflict where both nuclear armed countries fought a high altitude warfare, this incident was seen with growing concern around the world. U.S. State Department termed the subcontinent as being in a state of "continued high-stakes tension".

[edit] Lawsuit

The International Court of Justice dismissed Pakistan's case on the grounds that the court did not have jurisdiction.

On September 21, 1999, Pakistan lodged a compensation claim at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, accusing India of shooting down an unarmed aircraft. Pakistan sought about $60 million in reparations from India and compensation for the victims' families (The cost of the aircraft alone lost in the incident is put at $30 million^[13]) India argued that the court did not have jurisdiction, citing an exemption it filed in 1974 to exclude disputes between India and other Commonwealth States, and disputes covered by multi-lateral treaties. In the buildup to the case, India also contended that Pakistan had violated the 1991 bilateral agreement between Pakistan and India on air violations, which states "Combat aircraft (to include fighter, bomber reconnaissance, jet military trainer and armed helicopter aircraft) will not fly within 10 km of each other’s airspace including Air Defense Identification Zone." ^[7]

On June 22, 2000, the 15-judge Bench headed by Mr Gilbert Guillaume of France ruled—with a 14-2 verdict—upholding India's submission that the court had no jurisdiction in this matter.^[14] Pakistan's claims were dropped and the outcome was seen as a decision highly favourable to India.^[15]^[16] The ruling was also a financial setback to the Pakistan government which had spent an enormous amount of money —close to 25 million Pakistani rupees (approx $400,000)—on the preparation of the case, much higher than what its Indian counterpart is believed to have spent. ^[17]

[edit] Aftermath

In India, the incident made the two pilots of the Mig-21s into instant heroes.^[8]^[18]On October 8, 2000, the prestigious Vayusena medal was awarded to Squadron Leader P.K. Bundela. The medal was also awarded to Wing Commander V.S. Sharma (the fighter controller who tracked the Atlantique, guided the pilot and ordered him to attack the plane) and Squadron Leader Pankaj Vishnoi, the helicopter pilot who recovered a part of the Atlantique's debris from the marshy border regions of the Rann.^[19]

The downing of the Pakistani aircraft came at a particularly bad juncture for the Pakistani Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, who was already under attack from right-wing conservatives for ordering a retreat of its troops in the Kargil War. Two months later he was deposed in an Army coup by General Pervez Musharraf.