Atlantique incident The Atlantique Incident was an event in which a Pakistan Navy ' s Naval Air Arm Breguet Atlantique patrol plane , carrying 16 people on board , was shot down by the Indian Air Force for alleged violation of airspace . The episode took place in the Rann of Kutch on 10 August 1999 , just a month after the Kargil War , creating a tense atmosphere between India and Pakistan . Foreign diplomats based in Pakistan and escorted to the site by the Pakistani Army noted that the plane may have crossed the border . However , the Islamabad based diplomats said that they also believe that India ' s reaction was unjustified . Pakistan later lodged a compensation claim at the International Court of Justice , accusing India for the incident , but the court dismissed the case , ruling that the court had no jurisdiction in this matter . Confrontation . The French - built naval plane Breguet Atlantique ( Breguet Br . 1150 Atlantique ) plane , flight Atlantic - 91 , c / n 33 , of 29 Squadron was one of Pakistan Navy ' s frontline aircraft , used primarily for patrol and reconnaissance . Atlantic - 91 left Mehran ( Sindh province ) Naval Base in Pakistan at 9 : 15 am ( PST ) . An Indian Air Force ground radar picked up the flight path of the plane approaching the International Border . Two IAF MiG - 21 interceptor aircraft of No . 45 Squadron , from the Indian airbase at Naliya in the Kutch region , were soon scrambled by the Indian Air Force . After a series of manoeuvres — and a conflicting version of events from both sides — the two jets were given clearance to shoot down the Pakistani plane . At 11 : 17 am IST ( 10 : 47 am PST ) , nearly two hours after takeoff from Pakistan , the Atlantique was intercepted and an infrared homing R - 60 air - to - air missile was fired at it by Squadron Leader P . K . Bundela , hitting the engine on the port side of the plane . This resulted in the aircraft losing control and spiraling towards a crash at approximately 1100 hours PST and approximate location , killing all 16 on board the Atlantic - 91 , including five officers of the Pakistan Navy . The incident was the Pakistan Navy ' s only loss of an aircraft to hostile fire in its history , and the biggest combat - related casualty for the navy since the Indo - Pakistani War of 1971 . Claims and counterclaims . The event immediately sparked claims and counter - claims by both nations . Pakistan claimed that the plane was unarmed and the debris was found on Pakistan ' s side of the border , and there was no violation of Indian airspace . According to the official Pakistan version of events , the plane was on routine training mission inside Pakistan air space . The Pakistani prime minister stated during the funeral service of the airmen that the shooting was a barbaric act . The Indian Air force , however , claimed that the aeroplane did not respond to international protocol and that the plane acted in a " hostile " manner , adding that the debris of a downed aircraft could fall over a wide radius . Indian sources also state that the Pakistani Information Minister , Mushahid Hussein , was initially quoted saying that the aircraft was on a surveillance mission . India also accused that the plane violated a bilateral agreement signed between India and Pakistan in 1991 . The treaty states that no military aircraft is supposed to come anywhere near 10 km from the border ( although Pakistan claimed the Atlantique wasn ' t a combat aircraft ) . Indian experts also questioned why a training mission was being done so close to international border s , since all air forces clearly demarcate training areas for flight , which are located well away from the borders . According to them , the Pakistani claim was untenable since the primary role of the Atlantique is for operations over the sea and that to carry out a training flight over land deep inside foreign territory was an indication of its use in a surveillance role . India displayed part of the wreckage of the Pakistani naval aircraft at New Delhi airport the next day . Pakistan however , stated that the wreckage was removed from its side of the border by Indian helicopters . While Pakistan said that the plane was unarmed and the debris was within Pakistani territory , India maintained that warnings had been given to the Atlantique and that its flight trajectory meant it could have fallen on either side of the border . According to the Indian version of events , the MiGs tried to escort it to a nearby Indian base , when the Pakistani aircraft turned abruptly and tried to make a dash for the border ; it was only then that it was fired upon . India claimed that the debris was found in a radius of 2 km on either side of the border and that the intrusion took place 10 km inside the Kori Creek , which is Indian territory . Pakistan requested that the matter be taken up in the UN . Indian officials blamed that there had been previous violations in the area and pointed out that in the previous year a Pakistani unmanned surveillance aircraft had intruded 150 km inside the Indian border , coming close to the Bhuj air base before the IAF spotted it and brought it down with several missiles . Indian analysts state " flare - ups " in the Rann of Kutch region were routine , and despite bilateral agreements , both Indian and Pakistan had conducted air intrusions in the past . Thus , the fact that the Atlantique was shot down , despite coming close to the Indian border , came as a surprise . Indian officials add that Pakistan military aircraft had violated Indian airspace at least 50 times since January 1999 , showing videotape s of Pakistani Atlantiques " buzzing " , or flying provocatively near the Indian Navy ' s warship s in the Indian Ocean . Some Indian analysts stated that the Atlantique was nearly destroyed in 1983 on a similar encounter and noted other close encounters and violations from Pakistani naval planes . Some experts stated that the Atlantique was probably conducting a " probe " on India ' s air defence system , mainly the radar equipment in the border area ; however , they advised that it was not part of any planned aggressive military action by Pakistan . Foreign diplomats who visited the crash site noted that the plane " may have strayed into restricted space " , and that Islamabad was unable to explain why it was flying so close to the border ; they however added that India ' s reaction to the incident was not justified . Many countries , the G8 , the permanent members of the UN Security Council , as well as the western media questioned the wisdom behind Pakistan ' s decision to fly military aircraft so close to the Indian border . Rise in tensions . On the day following the attack , an IAF helicopter carrying journalists to the site of the attack was attacked by the Pakistan Army with a surface - to - air missile . Pakistani officials asserted that two Indian jets had intruded into Pakistani airspace near the Atlantique wreckage site , along the border between the Indian state of Gujarat and Pakistan ' s Sindh Province , and were then fired upon by Pakistan . International and Indian television journalists travelling in the chopper said the aircraft shook severely and a flash appeared in the air , suggesting a missile had been fired at it . The IAF thus aborted their mission to display Atlantique wreckage on Indian soil . Following this , and the rising tensions in the area coupled by the fact that the Sir Creek was a disputed territory , both the countries ' militaries near the Rann of Kutch and nearby were put on high alert . Pakistan sent a company of soldiers , equipped with both laser guided and infrared homing shoulder - fired surface - to - air missile s , to the site near the border . Coming barely weeks after the Kargil Conflict where both nuclear armed countries fought high altitude warfare , this incident was seen with growing concern around the world . The U . S . State Department termed the subcontinent as being in a state of " continued high - stakes tension . " Lawsuit . On 21 September 1999 , Pakistan lodged a compensation claim at the International Court of Justice ( ICJ ) in The Hague , accusing India of shooting down an unarmed aircraft . Pakistan sought about US $ 60 million in reparation s from India and compensation for the victims ' families . India ' s attorney general , Soli Sorabjee , argued that the court did not have jurisdiction , citing an exemption it filed in 1974 to exclude disputes between India and other Commonwealth States , and disputes covered by multi - lateral treaties . In the buildup to the case , India also contended that Pakistan had violated the 1991 bilateral agreement between Pakistan and India on air violations , which states : " Combat aircraft ( including , Bomber s , Reconnaissance aircraft , Jet military trainers and Armed helicopter s ) will not fly within 10 km of each other ’ s airspace including Air Defense Identification Zone . " On 21 June 2000 , the 16 - judge Bench headed by Gilbert Guillaume of France ruled — with a 14 – 2 verdict — upholding India ' s submission that the court had no jurisdiction in this matter . Pakistan ' s claims were dropped , without recourse to appeal , and the outcome was seen as a decision highly favourable to India . The Pakistan government had spent close to 25 million Pakistani rupee s ( approx . $ 400 , 000 ) on the case . Aftermath . The next day , Pakistan fired missiles on one of the three helicopters carrying journalists into the region . Pakistan said that it fired on Indian fighter jets that were escorting the helicopters and had come inside Pakistani territory . In India , the incident made the two pilots of the MiG - 21 s into instant heroes . On 8 October 2000 , the prestigious Vayusena medal was awarded to Squadron Leader P . K . Bundela . The medal was also awarded to Wing Commander V . S . Sharma ( the fighter controller who tracked the Atlantique , guided the pilot and ordered him to attack the plane ) and Squadron Leader Pankaj Vishnoi , the helicopter pilot who recovered a part of the Atlantique ' s debris from the marshy border regions of the Rann . The downing of the Pakistani aircraft came at a particularly bad juncture for the Pakistani prime minister , Nawaz Sharif , who was already under attack from politicians for ordering a withdrawal of its troops from Kargil . Two months later he was deposed in a bloodless coup d ' état by Gen . Pervez Musharraf .