India summons Pakistani diplomat after incident in Arabian Sea

India has summoned Pakistan’s top diplomat in New Delhi in protest against a collision between the two countries’ navies in the Arabian Sea.

The Indian Ministry of External Affairs said on Wednesday that a Pakistani naval ship had collided with an Indian warship in international waters the previous day.

The ministry said it had lodged a protest with Pakistan’s charge d’Affaires of the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi.

It accused Pakistan’s navy of “unacceptable and unprofessional conduct” leading to a collision with an Indian Navy unit.

It said the incident violated a 1991 bilateral agreement that requires naval ships and submarines of both countries to keep at least three nautical miles apart in international waters.

The ministry said the charge d’affaires was asked to convey to his government the need for military units to respect the agreements between the two sides “to prevent any repeat of such incidents”.

India’s charge d’affaires in Islamabad was also instructed to lodge a similar protest with Pakistan’s foreign ministry.

There was no immediate comment from Pakistan’s government.

This incident is the first case of direct military tension between the nuclear-armed neighbours since they fought a four-day direct conflict last year.

The two countries have not had ambassadors in each other’s capitals since 2019, when they downgraded diplomatic ties after New Delhi revoked the special status of Indian-administered Kashmir.

India and Pakistan have fought three major wars, two of them over the status of Kashmir, since they gained independence from British rule in 1947.