According to a defence ministry statement on Tuesday, "At 11:15 this morning, a Pakistani naval anti-submarine warfare and maritime reconnaisance aircraft, called Atlantique, intruded 10 km into Indian teritory in the area of Kori Creek. A Mig-21 of the IAF intercepted and shot down the Pakistan aircraft."

The intruding Pakistani aircraft was detected by IAF ground radars and was intercepted 10 km south of the international border. When the IAF fighters closed in to identify and signal the intruding Pakistani aircraft to force it to land at an Indain airbase, the Pakistani aircraft acted in a hostile manner, the statement said.

It was at that stage that the Atlantique was shot down by an air-to air missile which hit the aircraft on the port engine which caught fire, the defence ministry statement added.

The wreckage has been found by IAF helicopters two km on the Indian side of the international border.

The defence ministry pointed out that Pakistani aircraft have been intruding into Indian airspace in the same sector in the past too. From May to July there have been eight such intrusions, it said.

Following this incident, Indian armed forces have gone on a state of high alert in the entire western sector. "The whole of the western sector is on a state of alert," defence minister George Fernandes told mediapersons here on Tuesday.

Pakistan, however, denied that its plane had violated Indian airspace. Pakistan I&B minister Mushahid Hussain told BBC that it was an "unprovoked action" on the part of India and Pakistan reserved the right to "take appropriate measures". He asserted that the Pakistani plane was well within its territory when it was attacked.

A Karachi datelined report of a French news agency AFP quoted an anonymous Pakistani official to say that the maritime patrol aircraft was attacked while on a training mission.

According to the report the reconnaisance aircraft had 16 persons on board all of whom were now presumed dead. The dead reportedly included six under training officers and ten sailors.

The AFP report said the Pakistani aircraft went missing at 11.30 am Pakistani time. Without loss of time, Pakistani authorities pressed search helicopters which sighted the wreckage near Badin "inside the international border on the Pakistani side, 300 kilometres north -east of Karachi".

Meanwhile, reports said the directors general of military operations (DGMOs) of both countries, meanwhile, got in touch with each other this afternoon soon after the incident.No details were, however, available.

Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.