India, Pakistan trade protests after naval vessels collide in Arabian Sea

In a statement, the Foreign Office said it summoned the Indian Chargé d’Affaires in Islamabad and lodged a “strong protest” over what it claimed as a “highly provocative and unacceptable” action by an Indian Navy vessel in Pakistan’s Exclusive Economic Zone on September 15.

Pakistan on Wednesday summoned India’s Chargé d’Affaires in Islamabad and lodged a strong protest over a collision between a Pakistani Navy vessel and an Indian Navy warship in the Arabian Sea.

The move came hours after India summoned Pakistan’s Chargé d’Affaires, Saad Warraich, in New Delhi and protested what it described as the “unacceptable conduct” of the Pakistani naval vessel that resulted in the collision.

Pakistan’s Foreign Office said the incident took place on September 15 while the Pakistan Navy was conducting its biennial exercise SEASPARK-26.

“While the Pakistan Navy was undertaking its biennial exercise SEASPARK-26, the Indian vessel carried out aggressive manoeuvres in dangerous proximity of Pakistani naval ship, resulting in contact between the two vessels,” it said.

It said the incident constituted a ”serious violation” of international law as well as the 1991 bilateral agreement on Advance Notice on Military Exercises, Manoeuvres and Troop Movements, and risked escalating tensions in the region.

“The Charge d’Affaires was asked to convey to the government of India that Pakistan strongly rejects this belligerent Indian action,” the FO said.

The Indian side was urged to adhere strictly to international law and bilateral agreements, particularly those aimed at preventing incidents at sea, it added.

Official sources quoted by PTI in New Delhi said the Pakistani Navy vessel Hunain approached an Indian Navy frontline warship at high speed on the evening of September 15 while the Indian vessel was carrying out a routine surveillance mission in the northern Arabian Sea.

The sources said Hunain manoeuvred in an “unprofessional and unsafe manner”, resulting in the collision. The Pakistani offshore patrol vessel suffered heavy damage, they said, while the Indian warship continued its assigned mission and did not sustain significant damage.

The Ministry of External Affairs said the collision occurred in international waters and caused no major damage. It also alleged that the conduct of the Pakistani vessel violated Article 10 of the 1991 India-Pakistan agreement on Advance Notice on Military Exercises, Manoeuvres and Troop Movements.

The incident is the first publicly known military-domain incident between India and Pakistan since the four-day hostilities in May 2025 following the Pahalgam terror attack.