Pak Ship Collides With Indian Navy Unit, Delhi Summons Islamabad's Envoy

New Delhi has summoned Pakistan's Charge d'Affaires after an incident of a collision between a Pakistani Navy vessel and an Indian ship. The Foreign Ministry said Pakistani diplomat Saad Ahmad Warraich was called in to lodge a strong protest over what New Delhi called "unacceptable and unprofessional conduct" of Pakistani naval units in international waters that led to a collision.

In a statement, the ministry said the incident took place in international waters and did not cause any major damage.

However, the ministry noted the conduct of the Pakistani naval ship was in direct contravention of Article 10 of the 1991 agreement between India and Pakistan governing advance notice of military exercises, manoeuvres and troop movements.

"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 said.

The Pakistani diplomat was also directed to further convey India's message to Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"The Charge d'Affaires of India in Islamabad has also been instructed to lodge a similar protest with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan," the statement added. 

The Pakistani diplomat was reported summoned to the Foreign Ministry's Janpath office, where he stayed for about 30 minutes.

What We Know of Collision

According to sources, the incident took place on the evening of September 15, when a Pakistani vessel came close to a frontline Indian naval warship on a routine surveillance mission in the North Arabian Sea. They said the Pakistani warship 'garzed' past the Indian vessel approximately 220 kilometers east of Oman.

They said the Pakistani vessel came at high speed, maneuvering in an unprofessional and unsafe manner, which led to a collision. "No damage has been reported in the incident," said sources.

The exact vessels involved in the incident have not been identified yet, but sources said it was a Pakistani Hunain-class corvette that collided with an Indian frontline warship.

They said the seas were rough at the time of the incident, and both ships were moved away later. "The Pakistani Navy was both aggressive, intimidatory, and unprofessional, not knowing how to show down in rough seas," they said.

This was the second such incident. In June 2011, the Pakistani Navy's Babur and the INS Godavari were involved in a similar incident.