MEA Says Pakistani Vessel’s “Dangerous Overtaking Manoeuvre” Led To Collision With INS Kolkata
NEW DELHI: Rejecting Islamabad’s allegations against the Indian Navy, India on Friday said the Pakistan Navy ship PNS Hunain carried out “dangerous and irresponsible” manoeuvres while attempting to overtake INS Kolkata in international waters in the western Arabian Sea, causing a collision on Tuesday evening.
The external affairs ministry said INS Kolkata did not suffer major damage and continued its deployment on the high seas.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal accused Pakistan of “trying to hide the truth” and resorting to its “usual prevarication”. He said India fully expected Islamabad not to acknowledge its conduct after Pakistan blamed the Indian Navy for the incident.
Jaiswal pointed out that a 1991 agreement between the two countries required ships of their navies to maintain a distance of at least three nautical miles from each other at sea.
India summoned the Pakistani chargé d’affaires in New Delhi on Wednesday and lodged a strong protest over the collision. New Delhi described the Pakistan Navy’s conduct as “unprofessional and unacceptable” and asked Islamabad to comply with the 1991 agreement. The Indian chargé d’affaires in Islamabad also lodged a protest with Pakistan’s foreign ministry.
Pakistan, in turn, summoned the Indian chargé d’affaires and claimed the incident occurred within its exclusive economic zone. Islamabad said PNS Hunain was participating in the biennial Seaspark-26 exercise and alleged that an “aggressive manoeuvre” by the Indian vessel resulted in contact between the two ships.
India rejected the claim that the incident occurred within Pakistan’s exclusive economic zone and maintained that it took place in international waters.
Sources said the Pakistani vessel approached the Indian warship, which was on a routine surveillance mission in the Arabian Sea, at high speed and manoeuvred in an unsafe and unprofessional manner, causing the collision.
Reports said the incident occurred about 220 km east of the Oman coast. PNS Hunain is a Yarmook-class corvette built in Romania and commissioned two years ago, while INS Kolkata is a guided-missile destroyer.
The incident comes 15 years after a similar episode involving INS Godavari and Pakistan Navy ship PNS Babur in West Asia in June 2011.
New Delhi said the Pakistani vessel’s conduct directly contravened Article 10 of the Agreement on Advance Notice on Military Exercises, Manoeuvres and Troop Movements signed by the two countries in April 1991.
Pakistan was advised to ensure that its military units exercised due care and respected bilateral agreements to prevent a recurrence, India said.
