New Delhi: A Pakistani Navy vessel collided with a frontline Indian Navy warship in the north Arabian Sea on Tuesday, prompting India to summon the Charge d’Affaires of the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi.
In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs said the incident, which took place in international waters, caused no major damage but was in direct contravention of Article 10 of the April 1991 Agreement between India and Pakistan on Advance Notice on Military Exercises, Manoeuvres and Troops Movements.
This is not the first time a Pakistani naval vessel has collided with an Indian warship. On 16 June 2011, Pakistani naval vessel PNS Babur “brushed past” Indian frigate INS Godavari in the Gulf of Aden, triggering a diplomatic row.
PNS Babur was escorting Egyptian-owned merchant vessel MV Suez, which had been freed after Somali pirates held it hostage for several months. The vessel had 22 crew members — 11 Egyptians, six Indians, four Pakistanis and a Sri Lankan. INS Godavari was sent to reassure the Indian sailors on board MV Suez.
Pakistan had then blamed the Indian Navy ship for putting the crew of MV Suez at risk. However, a video shared by a Pakistani journalist in 2020 showed PNS Babur brushing against INS Godavari.
Pakistan Navy intercepts and rams Indian ship in Arabian Sea? pic.twitter.com/nkNHnV7aw2
— Moeed Pirzada (@MoeedNj) April 13, 2020
Months after the incident, then defence minister A.K. Antony informed Parliament about what had transpired.
In a written reply to then Kerala MP Jose K Mani in the Lok Sabha on 2 August 2011, Antony said: “While carrying out anti-piracy patrol, Indian Naval Warship INS Godavari on coming close to MV Suez, which had earlier been hijacked, tried to establish communication for ascertaining the safety of the crew. In the meantime, Pakistani Warship PNS Babur closed INS Godavari at high speed from astern and carried out a manoeuvre in gross violation of the relevant regulations on navigational safety and in the process touched Godavari, marginally damaging the extended safety net on the helicopter deck.”
India had lodged a protest with the Pakistan government through its High Commission in New Delhi over PNS Babur’s violation of relevant navigational safety regulations.
(Edited by Chingkheinganbi Mayengbam)
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