NEW DELHI: A Pakistan Navy offshore patrol vessel collided with an Indian Navy warship on Tuesday evening in international waters in the North Arabian Sea.
Sources said the incident happened after the Pak vessel made a reckless, high-speed approach towards the Indian warship and undertook a series of unsafe manoeuvres, resulting in a minor collision.
The Indian warship did not suffer any damage and remained operational, while the extent of damage to the Pakistan naval ship, PNS Hunain, was not immediately known.
Defence ministry sources said the Indian warship, which was on a routine surveillance mission, is comparatively larger than PNS Hunain, a Yarmook-class offshore patrol vessel commissioned in 2024.
Following the incident, the Ministry of External Affairs on Wednesday summoned the Charge d’Affaires of the Pakistan High Commission, Saad Warraich, and lodged a strong protest over the “unacceptable and unprofessional conduct” of the Pakistani naval unit.
The MEA said the conduct of the Pak vessel was in direct contravention of Article 10 of the Agreement between India and Pakistan on Advance Notice on Military Exercises, Manoeuvres and Troops Movements signed in April 1991.
Sources said the circumstances of the collision are being examined, particularly the manner in which the Pakistani vessel closed the distance with the Indian warship and the manoeuvres undertaken immediately before the contact.
Hunain, built by Damen Shipyards in Romania, is 98 metres long and displaces around 2,600 tonnes. It is meant primarily for offshore patrol, maritime surveillance and security missions.
The incident brings back memories of a similar encounter between the two navies in June 2011 when PNS Babur collided with INS Godavari in the Arabian Sea while the Indian warship was involved in an anti-piracy operation. At that time, both sides blamed the other for the incident.