New Delhi: In an alarming development in the international waters, a Pakistani Navy vessel collided with a frontline warship of the Indian Navy Tuesday evening.
There was no major damage to the Indian ship.
India summoned Pakistan’s Charge d’Affaires Wednesday and lodged a strong protest over the “unacceptable and unprofessional” conduct of the Pakistani naval units.
Sources in the defence and security establishment said the incident occurred late Tuesday evening in the north Arabian Sea.
The Pakistani naval ship came close to a frontline Indian naval ship at high speed, the sources said, adding that the Indian naval ship was on a routine surveillance mission.
Sources said that there was no major damage to the Indian vessel, a development which the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) confirmed.
Pakistan, they said, has in the past also behaved irresponsibly but never got so close.
In a statement on the summoning of the Pakistani diplomat, the MEA said while the incident, which took place in international waters, did not cause any major damage, the Pakistani naval ship’s conduct was in direct contravention of Article 10 of the Agreement between India and Pakistan on Advance Notice on Military Exercises, Manoeuvres and Troops Movements of April 1991.
“The Charge d’Affaires of Pakistan was advised to convey to the concerned Pakistani authorities the need for all military units to observe due care and respect the provisions of the relevant agreements between the two sides in order to prevent any repeat of such incidents,” it added.
India’s Charge d’Affaires in Islamabad has been instructed to lodge a similar protest with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan.
The 1991 agreement between the two countries focuses on giving the other side advance notice with respect to any military exercises to ensure that no incident arises due to misreading the situation.
Article 10 of the agreement states: “The Naval ships and submarines belonging to the other country are not to close less than three Nautical Miles (NMs) from each other so as to avoid any accident while operating in international waters.”
The agreement further highlights the kinds of exercises that both countries will “avoid” near specific geographical areas, such as the Line of Control (LoC) or in the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) of India and Pakistan.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
Also Read: India’s growing warship gap with China and Pakistan