India Summons Pakistan Diplomat After Navy Vessel Collides With Indian Warship in Arabian Sea
New Delhi: India on Wednesday summoned Pakistan’s Charge d’Affaires and issued a formal protest after a Pakistan Navy vessel collided with an Indian Navy warship in the North Arabian Sea on Tuesday evening, in an incident the Ministry of External Affairs described as “unacceptable and unprofessional.”
According to government sources, the Indian warship was carrying out a routine surveillance mission in international waters when the Pakistani vessel moved in at high speed and carried out an unsafe manoeuvre, leading to the collision. Officials said the Indian ship suffered no damage, and the ministry later said there was no major damage in the incident.
India lodges protest with Pakistan
The Charge d’Affaires of the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi was called to the Ministry of External Affairs and told that the Pakistani ship’s conduct amounted to a violation of Article 10 of the Agreement between India and Pakistan on Advance Notice on Military Exercises, Manoeuvres and Troops Movements, signed in April 1991.
That article requires naval ships and submarines of both countries to keep a minimum distance of three nautical miles from one another while operating in international waters. The purpose of the provision is to reduce the risk of accidental contact and prevent incidents at sea.
The ministry said the Pakistani diplomat was advised to pass on India’s protest to the authorities in Islamabad and to convey the need for all military units to exercise due care and respect the relevant bilateral agreements so that such incidents are not repeated. India’s Charge d’Affaires in Islamabad was also instructed to lodge a similar protest with Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Neither government has publicly identified the ships involved.
What Indian officials say happened
Government sources cited in Indian reports said the collision took place on the evening of 15 September 2026 in the North Arabian Sea. They said the Indian Navy vessel was on routine surveillance duty in international waters when the Pakistan Navy ship closed in at high speed and manoeuvred in what New Delhi described as an “unprofessional and unsafe manner.” Contact followed, but the Indian warship was not seriously affected.
Reuters also reported that India’s foreign ministry had summoned the top Pakistani diplomat in New Delhi over the same episode.
As of Wednesday afternoon, there was no official public response from Pakistan’s Foreign Office or the Inter-Services Public Relations specifically addressing the collision.
Why the 1991 agreement matters
The 1991 agreement is one of the main confidence-building measures governing military activity between India and Pakistan. Its maritime safety clause is intended to lower the chances of accidents by setting a minimum stand-off distance for naval platforms in international waters.
The latest episode comes amid already strained India-Pakistan ties following last year’s military exchanges, which Indian official and media accounts commonly refer to as Operation Sindoor. Reports of close encounters between the two navies in the Arabian Sea have circulated in recent weeks, although earlier claims about radio warnings to Pakistani aircraft have not been independently confirmed.
India has presented the collision as a breach of agreed safety norms rather than an armed confrontation. The message delivered to the Pakistani diplomat was that military units must observe existing agreements and exercise caution to avoid a repeat of such an incident.
Neither the Indian Navy nor the Ministry of Defence had issued a separate detailed operational account by early Wednesday afternoon. Further details, including the identities of the vessels and any account from Pakistan, had not been made public at the time of writing.
