Tensions between India and Pakistan have been running high amid Indian air strikes to destroy terrorist infrastructure on the Pakistani side of the border in Kashmir which Islamabad has described as a violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
An Indian Air Force MiG-21 has crashed outside the city of Bikaner, India, about 100 km from the Pakistani border, during a ‘routine mission’, local media have reported.
The single-seater plane’s pilot is reported safe, having successfuly ejected.
Sources speaking to Sputnik confirmed that the fighter jet was based at the ob Nal Air Base in Bikaner.
The reason for the crash is yet to be established, and will be investigated by the military, although one defence official suggested it may have been the result of a bird strike.
Unconfirmed photos from the scene show what appear to be the plane’s remains, surrounded by onlookers and a fire brigade.
Tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad escalated last week after India carried out air strikes to destroy an alleged terror camp inside Pakistan said to belong to al-Qaeda affiliated militants who claimed responsibility for a deadly terror attack on Indian paramilitary forces in Kashmir in February which killed over 40.
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