Indian, Pakistani warships collide in Arabian Sea; Delhi lodges protest

An Indian warship and a Pakistani Navy vessel have collided in international waters in the northern Arabian Sea, prompting India to lodge a formal protest with Islamabad, accusing the Pakistani side of “unprofessional and unsafe” navigation.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the collision occurred on Tuesday evening in international waters about 120 nautical miles from the Gulf of Oman. The following day, Wednesday, Pakistan’s chargé d’affaires in New Delhi was summoned and handed a formal note of protest. At the same time, India’s acting high commissioner in Islamabad was instructed to lodge a similar written protest with Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry.

Indian defence sources identified the Pakistani vessel involved as PNS Hunain, an Yarmook-class offshore patrol vessel or corvette. According to Indian officials, the vessel approached the Indian warship at high speed and, after failing to maintain a safe distance, lost control at the last moment and collided with it.

India said the Pakistani vessel sustained some damage in the collision and later returned to its home port. The Indian warship, however, did not suffer any major damage and continued its scheduled surveillance mission.

Alleged Violation of Article 10 of Bilateral Agreement

Following the incident, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement that such conduct in international waters violated Article 10 of a 1991 agreement between India and Pakistan concerning prior notification of military exercises, strategic movements and troop deployments.

Under the article, the two countries’ warships and submarines are required to maintain a distance of at least three nautical miles from each other in international waters to prevent accidents.

The MEA statement said Pakistan’s chargé d’affaires had been asked to convey India’s concerns to the relevant authorities. It also called on all military units of both countries to comply with existing bilateral agreements to prevent similar incidents in the future.

Not Aggression, but Alleged Violation of Safety Rules

Indian officials have described the incident not as direct military aggression but as a serious violation of established safety rules. They said maintaining the prescribed distance and adhering to professional navigation standards are particularly important when the two navies conduct routine patrols in international waters.

According to a report by Qatar-based Al Jazeera, Indian Navy destroyers and frigates have been deployed on surveillance missions in the northern Arabian Sea for several months. Pakistan Navy patrols have also continued in the same area. As a result, the presence of the two countries’ warships in close proximity is not unusual, although collisions are rare.

Echoes of a 2011 Incident

The latest collision has brought back memories of another incident in June 2011 in the Gulf of Aden, when Pakistani warship PNS Babar collided with the Indian frigate INS Godavari.

Following that incident, India summoned Pakistan’s naval adviser and lodged a formal protest. Then Defence Minister A. K. Antony also made a statement on the matter in Parliament.

As of the time of this report, neither the Pakistani government nor the country’s navy had issued an official statement on the latest collision. Islamabad had also not responded to India’s allegations.