INTERACTIVE: Key dates in India-Pakistan relations

August 11, 1999
Web posted at: 9:11 a.m. EDT (1311 GMT)

NALIYA, India (CNN) -- The Indian Air Force said Wednesday that Pakistan fired surface-to-air missiles at military helicopters carrying journalists to view a border site where a Pakistani reconnaissance plane crashed after being shot down by Indian jets.

Pakistani army spokesman Brig. Rashid Qureshi said that Pakistan fired a missile at an Indian jet that tried to approach its airspace.

"Two helicopters also approached," Qureshi said, "but they were not engaged."

CNN's Satinder Bindra, aboard one of the helicopters, said he was told when they returned to the air base at Naliya, India, that pilots saw a flash "consistent with surface-to-air missiles" and took evasive action.

"While in the air, I noticed that the helicopter I was in banked very steeply." Bindra said, adding that he feared a crash.

On Tuesday, an Indian MiG-21 shot down the Pakistani reconnaissance aircraft near a disputed border area dividing India's Gujarat state from Pakistan's Sindh province, killing all 16 crew members aboard.