Pakistan downplays alleged India airspace breach

Pakistan downplayed alleged Indian violations of its airspace, suggesting yesterday that they were "inadvertent" and "technical", in a bid to avoid worsening tensions already spiked by the Mumbai attacks. While India denied its aircraft crossed into Pakistani airspace, the country's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he wants "normalized relations with Pakistan".

Pakistani officials said Indian aircraft entered 2-4 km inside Pakistan's section of the disputed Kashmir region and over the city of Lahore on Saturday.

Both sides are usually careful to avoid such territorial violations, and it was unclear how two separate but apparently accidental incursions could occur on the same day.