India's military accidentally fired a missile into Pakistan, New Delhi's defence ministry said on Friday, calling it "deeply regrettable".

"In the course of a routine maintenance, a technical malfunction led to the accidental firing of a missile" on Wednesday that landed in "an area of Pakistan", it said in a statement, adding that a high-level inquiry had been ordered.

“On 9 March 2022, in the course of a routine maintenance, a technical malfunction led to the accidental firing of a missile. The Government of India has taken a serious view and ordered a high-level Court of Enquiry. It is learnt that the missile landed in an area of Pakistan. While the incident is deeply regrettable, it is also a matter of relief that there has been no loss of life due to the accident,” read the statement.

The development comes a day after Director-General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Babar Iftikhar revealed that an Indian projectile had entered the Pakistani airspace and fell near Mian Channu in Khanewal district, causing some damage to the surrounding areas.

Addressing the media, he said the projectile had put in danger the security of the flying zone.

"Pakistan Air Force continuously monitored that complete flying path of the object, from its point of origin [...] to its point of impact," he said.

Pakistan Air Force shot down an Indian projectile that entered Pakistani airspace and violated international conventions. He also strongly condemned the violation of Pakistan’s airspace by India.

He said that the projectile travelled 124kms inside Pakistan from India.

"We detected the object on time and took necessary action as per the standard operating procedures (SOPs)," he said, adding that no casualties took place because of the incident. 

"Some material damage was caused to a building because of the object and a crater was formed," he said.

Air Vice Marshall Tariq Zia told the media that at the time this projectile was picked up, there were two airway routes active and several commercial airlines in the area. "If you look at the speed and height of the projectile, it was 40,000 feet high, and the airlines were between 35,000 to 42,000 feet. This could have been very detrimental to the safety of passengers."