ISLAMABAD: Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg has emphasised the need for measures for prevention of recurrence of missile accidents in the nuclearised South Asian environment and called for more confidence-building measures between India and Pakistan.

Speaking to Dawn during his visit to Pakistan, Mr Schallenberg expressed the hope that “all necessary measures have been taken to avoid another incident”.

An Indian supersonic cruise missile, believed to be BrahMos, had on March 9 landed in Pakistan after flying in from across the border. It is feared that the missile could have hit one of the airliners that were flying nearby or worse it could have led to a retaliatory strike from Pakistan. Either scenarios could have been catastrophic.

India claimed that the missile was accidentally launched due to a technical malfunction during a routine maintenance operation. Pakistan, however, disbelieves the Indian account and has demanded a joint probe to unearth the real reasons behind the incident.

Sees huge potential for economic cooperation with Pakistan

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had at a recent presser said that he was “shocked” and “surprised” that the world was not realising the gravity of the incident.

The Austrian foreign minister too saw it as a case of “accidental firing of a missile” and expressed concern over it.

He, however, praised Pakistan’s “restrained reaction” that averted a potential crisis.

“This highlights the need for restraint and confidence-building measures,” Mr Schallenberg underscored.

Speaking about his trip, the first by an Austrian foreign minister in nearly 15 years, he said it was aimed at reinvigorating the ties.

“In terms of economic cooperation, I am convinced that there is a huge untapped potential in Pakistan,” he said.

Mr Schallenberg was accompanied by a high-level business delegation, including representatives of the Austrian Economic Chamber.

“Austrian companies are always good at finding new opportunities and new markets. Thus, I hope that this trip marks the beginning of a new era in Austrian-Pakistani relations, not only politically but also economically,” he maintained.

About the possibility of collaboration in development of Northern Areas that has quite often attracted Austrian climbers, the foreign minister said there would be plenty of opportunities for Pakistan to benefit from Austria’s know-how and expertise being a world leader in tourism and an expert in the area of alpine tourism.

On the Afghan issue, he noted commonality in Austrian and Pakistan approaches that seek security and stability for the Afghan people.

He emphasised the need for preventing the possibility of Afghan refugees turning towards Europe.

“As we are facing a situation where Europe is at war again and the world is seeing the biggest migration movement since the end of World War II, we have to avoid additional migration flows,” he said.

Published in Dawn, March 20th, 2022