New Delhi: India on Friday strongly rejected Islamabad's allegations relating to a collision between a Pakistani vessel and an Indian Navy warship in the Arabian Sea.
New Delhi on Wednesday summoned the Pakistani Charge d'Affaires (CDA) and lodged a strong protest over the ‘unacceptable conduct’ by the Pakistan Navy vessel that led to the collision.
The incident happened on Tuesday night after the Pakistani vessel closed in on the frontline Indian Navy warship that was on a routine surveillance mission in the north Arabian Sea, according to the Indian side.
The Pakistani foreign ministry had alleged that the incident happened following a "highly provocative and unacceptable action" by the Indian vessel in the Pakistan's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
"We have seen Pakistan's response to the protest we had lodged. It is the usual prevarication that we expected. We reject the allegations and insinuations contained therein," Minister of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at his regular media briefing.
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The Indian ship INS Kolkata was on a routine deployment in the western Arabian sea when Pakistani naval ship Hunain conducted itself in an ‘unacceptable and unprofessional manner’ at sea that resulted in the collision, he said.
"The dangerous overtaking manoeuvre by PNS Hunain was in gross violation of Article 10 of the Agreement between India and Pakistan on Advance Notice on Military Exercises, Manoeuvres and Troops Movements of April 1991, which specifies that naval units at sea are not to be within three nautical miles of each other.
In addition, the Pakistani ship also infringed the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea," Jaiswal said.
The Pakistan side has once again been "advised" about the need for all military units to observe due care and respect the provisions of the relevant agreements between the two sides in order to prevent any repeat of such incidents, he said.
Jaiswal said the incident did not cause any major damage to INS Kolkata and remains at sea.
