Pakistan, India Trade Protests After Naval Ships Collide in Arabian Sea

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — WEB DESK: Pakistan and India have lodged competing diplomatic protests after naval vessels from the two countries came into contact in the Arabian Sea, with Islamabad and New Delhi presenting sharply different accounts of who was responsible and where the incident occurred.

Pakistan’s Foreign Office summoned the Indian Charge d’Affaires in Islamabad over the September 15 encounter, describing the actions of an Indian Navy vessel as “highly provocative and unacceptable.” Pakistan says the incident occurred inside its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) while the Pakistan Navy was conducting its biennial SEASPARK-26 exercise.

India disputes that account. New Delhi says the encounter occurred in international waters and alleges that a Pakistani naval vessel acted in an unsafe and unprofessional manner, leading to the collision. India separately summoned Pakistan’s top diplomat in New Delhi to protest.

Pakistan Says INS Kolkata Entered Exercise Area

According to Pakistan’s account, the Pakistan Navy has been conducting SEASPARK-26 in its EEZ since September 1.

Pakistani officials identified the Indian vessel as INS Kolkata and said it, along with a helicopter deployed from the ship, had repeatedly attempted since September 7 to enter the area where Pakistani naval exercises were underway.

The Foreign Office accused INS Kolkata of carrying out what it described as dangerous and provocative manoeuvres near Pakistani naval vessels despite multiple warnings.

Pakistan says the situation escalated on September 15 when INS Kolkata changed course and came into contact with PNS Hunain. According to Islamabad’s account, the Pakistani vessel attempted evasive manoeuvres, but a scraping or collision nevertheless occurred.

The Foreign Office said the Indian vessel subsequently increased speed and left the area.

These details represent Pakistan’s official account of a disputed encounter and have not been jointly agreed upon by the two governments.

India Gives Different Account

India has presented a substantially different version.

New Delhi says the incident took place in international waters while an Indian Navy vessel was conducting a routine surveillance mission.

According to the Indian account reported by Reuters and AP, the Pakistani vessel’s conduct led to the collision. India described the Pakistani naval units’ actions as “unacceptable and unprofessional.”

Indian reporting identified the Pakistani vessel as PNS Hunain and said it approached the Indian warship at high speed before the collision.

The competing accounts mean that two important facts remain disputed: whether the encounter occurred inside Pakistan’s EEZ or in international waters, and which vessel’s manoeuvres caused the collision.

Both Countries Invoke 1991 Agreement

In an unusual feature of the diplomatic dispute, both Pakistan and India have invoked the same 1991 bilateral agreement governing military exercises and manoeuvres.

Pakistan says the Indian vessel’s actions violated the Agreement on Advance Notice on Military Exercises, Manoeuvres and Troop Movements, 1991.

India, however, argues that the Pakistani vessel’s conduct violated Article 10 of the same agreement.

Both sides have called on the other to comply with bilateral arrangements designed to reduce the risk of military incidents.

Pakistan Summons Indian Diplomat

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry formally summoned India’s Charge d’Affaires and lodged a diplomatic demarche.

Islamabad urged New Delhi to adhere to international law and bilateral agreements, particularly mechanisms intended to prevent dangerous incidents at sea.

Pakistan also said its Charge d’Affaires in New Delhi would separately lodge the same demarche with India’s Ministry of External Affairs.

The Foreign Office warned that such encounters could escalate regional tensions and called for measures to prevent a recurrence.

India Also Summons Pakistani Diplomat

New Delhi responded through the same diplomatic mechanism.

India’s Foreign Ministry summoned Pakistan’s senior diplomat in New Delhi and lodged its own formal protest, blaming Pakistani naval units for the collision.

Indian officials also called for military units to exercise greater care and comply with existing bilateral agreements.

The parallel protests underscore how sharply the two countries disagree over the circumstances surrounding the encounter.

No Major Damage Reported

Despite the close encounter, no major damage was reported, according to India’s account cited by AP and other reporting.

Neither government has announced casualties.

There has also been no announcement of a military response by either side. Both countries have so far handled the incident through diplomatic protests.

That is particularly significant because encounters involving armed naval vessels can carry escalation risks when ships operate at close range.

What Is an Exclusive Economic Zone?

An EEZ is a maritime zone extending up to 200 nautical miles from a country’s coastal baseline under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, subject to geography and overlapping maritime claims.

A coastal state has sovereign rights over natural resources and certain economic activities within its EEZ, but an EEZ is not equivalent to territorial waters. Foreign vessels retain navigation rights under international law.

That legal distinction matters in this case because Pakistan’s protest concerns both the Indian vessel’s alleged presence in its EEZ and its conduct near an active Pakistani naval exercise.

The two sides also dispute whether the incident was inside Pakistan’s EEZ at all. AP reports that Pakistan places it within the EEZ while India says it occurred in international waters.

First Major Naval Flashpoint Since 2025 Conflict

The maritime encounter comes at a sensitive point in Pakistan-India relations following their military confrontation in May 2025.

AP describes the latest collision as a fresh escalation in tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours following last year’s military exchanges.

The Express Tribune similarly notes that the two countries are still managing the fallout from that confrontation.

For now, the latest incident remains a diplomatic dispute rather than a new armed confrontation.

The clearest verified facts are that Pakistani and Indian naval vessels came into contact on September 15, both governments lodged formal protests, and each side blames the other’s naval conduct. The location of the encounter and responsibility for the collision remain contested.