A day after the collision between Indian and Pakistani warships in the North Arabian Sea triggered a diplomatic row in New Delhi, Pakistan has blamed the INS Kolkata for the incident, which has sparked comparisons with a similar incident 15 years ago.
“While the Pakistan Navy was undertaking its biennial exercise SEASPARK-26, the Indian vessel carried out aggressive manoeuvres in dangerously close proximity of a Pakistani naval ship, resulting in contact between the two vessels,” Pakistan's Foreign Office noted, pointing out that the incident had taken place inside its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
It also lodged a strong protest over the matter with the Indian Charge d’Affaires (CDA) in Islamabad, a Dawn report said.
The FO had also claimed that the incident violated not just international law, but also the Agreement between India and Pakistan on Advance Notice on Military Exercises, Manoeuvres and Troops Movements of April 1991.
This is exactly the opposite of what India said—it blamed the PNS Hunain for actively shadowing its Kolkata-class warship despite repeated warnings, before the collision took place that left the Yarmook-class corvette damaged.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has also lodged a strong dispute with Islamabad's CdA over the violation of the 1991 agreement.
How did Pakistan respond 15 years ago?
Back on June 16, 2011, Pakistan had reportedly accused the Indian Navy of making "unfriendly gestures" towards the PNS Babur, as the reason why the warship had closed in at high speed and caused minor damage to the extended safety net around the helicopter deck of the INS Godavari.
Islamabad had also claimed that the Indian Navy's actions at the time had endangered the crew of the MV Suez, the pirate-attacked bulk carrier that the PNS Babur had been escorting at the time.
At the time, India had lodged a similar protest on a diplomatic level, providing photographic evidence to prove that its INS Godavari had only been trying to communicate with the six Indians onboard the bulker, and that the Pakistan Navy's actions had violated the 1991 agreement.
