Pak claims to have shot down Indian ‘spy drone’ in Rakh Chikri sector

The Pakistani military on Friday claimed to have shot down an "Indian quadcopter" drone that was "spying" across the Line of Control (LoC) in the Rakh Chikri sector.

Military spokesman Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor, the director of the Pakistan military's media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations, took to social media to announce that the drone was hit in the Rakh Chikri sector.

''Indian quadcopter spying across LOC in Rakhchikri sector shot down by Pak Army shooters,'' he tweeted. He also claimed that the ''wreckage'' of the ''Indian spy drone'' has been held by the Pakistan Army.

According to Associated Press, Maj Gen Ghafoor also said that the drone was spying when it was shot down on Friday in Rakhchikri village along the Line of Control in Kashmir.

The claim was accompanied by a photo which looked like a commercial unmanned aerial vehicle made by the drone manufacturer DJI, India Today reported.

Gafoor tweeted about the alleged incident hours after Islamabad had strongly opposed the US move to supply armed drones to India.

The Trump administration in the US had said earlier this week that it was "considering" India's request for armed drones for its Air Force modernisation drive.

"Use of armed drones can lower the threshold for conflict, since it can encourage military misadventures, especially in the backdrop of irresponsible discourse about limited military operations below the strategic threshold," Pakistani foreign office spokesman Nafees Zakaria told reporters in Islamabad on Friday.

He demanded that any transfer of armed drones should also be closely examined in the context of the guidelines of the multilateral export control regimes, including the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), which place limitations on such transfers.

This is not the first time Pakistan has claimed to have shot down an 'Indian spy drone'. Last November, Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor's predecessor Asim Bajwa had made a similar claim.