India has summoned Pakistan’s senior diplomat in New Delhi after accusing a Pakistani naval vessel of colliding with an Indian warship in international waters in the Arabian Sea.
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs said the incident occurred on Tuesday and described the conduct of the Pakistan Navy as “unacceptable and unprofessional”.
India lodged its protest with Pakistan’s chargé d’affaires at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi. It said the collision breached a 1991 bilateral agreement requiring naval ships and submarines from both countries to remain at least three nautical miles apart in international waters.
The diplomat was asked to convey to Islamabad the need for military units to comply with agreements between the two countries “to prevent any repeat of such incidents”. India’s chargé d’affaires in Islamabad was also instructed to raise the matter with Pakistan’s foreign ministry.
Pakistan’s government had not immediately commented on the incident.
The collision is the first reported instance of direct military tension between the nuclear-armed neighbours since they fought a four-day conflict last year.
Diplomatic relations have remained downgraded since 2019, when New Delhi revoked the special status of Indian-administered Kashmir. India and Pakistan have not had ambassadors in each other’s capitals since then.
The two countries have fought three major wars since gaining independence from British rule in 1947, including two conflicts over Kashmir.
