India summons top Pakistan diplomat after Pak Navy ship collides with Indian warship at high seas
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "India summons top Pakistan diplomat after Pak Navy ship collides with Indian warship at high seas")
Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi Photograph: (AFP)
Officials in New Delhi stressed that the encounter “did not cause any major damage.” They nevertheless described the Pakistani ship’s behaviour as unprofessional and warned against a repeat
India has summoned Pakistan’s top diplomat in New Delhi after what it called the ‘unacceptable and unprofessional conduct’ of Pakistani naval units that led to a collision with an Indian Navy ship in international waters. The Ministry of External Affairs said the Pakistani chargé d’affaires was called in on Wednesday and a ‘strong protest’ was lodged. India’s envoy in Islamabad has been instructed to deliver a matching protest to Pakistan’s foreign ministry.
“The conduct of the Pakistani naval ship 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 ministry said. That 1991 pact requires the two nuclear-armed neighbours to give advance notice of military movements and to observe care at sea so that exercises and patrols do not turn into incidents. India said the collision, while occurring on the high seas, breached those rules.
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Officials in New Delhi stressed that the encounter “did not cause any major damage.” They nevertheless described the Pakistani ship’s behaviour as unprofessional and warned against a repeat. The chargé d’affaires 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 episode comes against a backdrop of persistently tense India-Pakistan relations due to Islamabad's support to cross border terror into India. The two countries have fought wars and come close to conflict several times since independence, and their navies routinely operate in the Arabian Sea. Confidence-building measures such as the 1991 agreement were designed to reduce the risk of accidental clashes between military units.
