India Protests Pakistan Over Naval Ship Collision — SkimNews
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- India's foreign ministry summoned Pakistan's Charge d'Affaires in New Delhi on Wednesday to lodge a 'strong protest' over a naval collision the previous day in international waters of the north Arabian Sea.
- A Pakistani naval ship moved at high speed toward a frontline Indian warship on a routine surveillance mission, causing the collision; the impact caused no major damage, according to Indian sources.
- India said the incident violated a 1991 bilateral agreement requiring naval ships and submarines keep at least three nautical miles apart in international waters.
- India's foreign ministry also instructed its top diplomat in Islamabad to lodge a similar protest with Pakistan's foreign ministry, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
- The incident marks the first overt military tension between the nuclear-armed neighbors since a four-day conflict last year that ended with a ceasefire.
- India and Pakistan have not maintained ambassadors in each other's capitals since downgrading diplomatic relations in 2019 over the Kashmir dispute, operating through Charges d'Affaires instead.
Why it matters: The collision is the first military flashpoint between the nuclear-armed rivals since their four-day war ended in a ceasefire last year, and India is using the formal diplomatic channel — through the Charge d'Affaires since no ambassadors remain after 2019 — to register the incident as a treaty violation rather than respond militarily.
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