India, Pakistan summon diplomats after naval collision

India and Pakistan said on Wednesday they had summoned each other's top diplomats to lodge ‌strong protests after an Indian and a Pakistani naval vessel collided with each other in international waters.

Photo/Times of India

India's foreign ministry said that it had called in Pakistan's senior envoy to formally register a strong objection over what it said was "unacceptable and unprofessional conduct" of Pakistani naval units that led to a ​collision with an Indian warship.

Pakistan's foreign ministry also said it had officially called upon the charge d'affaires of the ​Indian High Commission in Islamabad to convey disapproval over what it called "highly provocative and unacceptable action" ⁠by an Indian navy vessel.

This was the first overt military tension between the nuclear-armed neighbours since they engaged in a fierce, four-day ​military conflict last year that raised fears of a wider war before a ceasefire was reached.

Both sides blamed the other for ​the incident on Tuesday.

Indian sources said the collision occurred when a Pakistani naval ship moved closer to a frontline Indian warship on a routine surveillance mission in the north Arabian Sea at high speed.

The impact did not cause any major damage, but Pakistan's conduct was "in direct contravention" of a ​1991 agreement between the two countries governing military exercises, manoeuvres, and troop movements, the Indian foreign ministry said.

Photo/NDTV

The agreement mandates that ​naval ships and submarines of the countries should keep a distance of at least three nautical miles from each other to avoid any accident ‌in international ⁠waters.

"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," the ministry said in a statement.

The top Indian diplomat in Islamabad was also instructed to lodge a similar protest ​with Pakistan's foreign ministry, it said.

The ​Pakistani foreign ministry, however, ⁠said that the Indian vessel had carried out "aggressive manoeuvres in dangerously close proximity" to a Pakistani naval ship that was taking part in biennial exercises, and the charge d'affaires had been asked to ​convey to the Indian government that the country rejected the Indian action.

"The charge d'affaires of ​the Pakistan High ⁠Commission in New Delhi will lodge the same demarche with India's Ministry of External Affairs", the foreign ministry statement said.

India and Pakistan do not have ambassadors in each other's capitals as they downgraded their diplomatic relations over their Kashmir dispute in 2019, with their missions headed by ​a charge d'affaires since.

The arch-rivals have fought three major wars, two of them over ​Kashmir - which is divided between them but claimed in full by both - and numerous armed skirmishes since independence from British colonial India in 1947.