The Indian Ministry of External Affairs has summoned Pakistan's High Commissioner to its headquarters in New Delhi for urgent consultations after a collision between an Indian Navy warship and a Pakistani naval vessel in the Arabian Sea, sources confirmed on Tuesday. The incident has reignited already sensitive defence and diplomatic relations between the two nations.
According to initial reports, the collision occurred in international waters of the Arabian Sea, though exact coordinates and the circumstances surrounding the incident have not been fully disclosed by either side. Both navies have reportedly initiated separate inquiries into the matter.
The Indian Navy confirmed that one of its warships sustained damage during the encounter with a Pakistani vessel. Military sources indicated that no casualties were reported from either side, but the extent of structural damage to both ships remains under assessment. Pakistan's military establishment has yet to release an official statement detailing the condition of its vessel or any injuries sustained by its crew.
Diplomatic channels have been activated immediately following the incident. A senior MEA official described the summoning as a routine but serious diplomatic exercise, urging that the matter be resolved through established channels of communication. However, insiders acknowledge that the nature of the incident — involving military vessels in disputed waters — carries significant strategic implications.
This development comes at a time when India-Pakistan relations remain strained, with limited bilateral engagement on defence and security matters since the abrogation of the 1965 Simla Agreement's military cooperation provisions. The two countries have not held formal naval dialogues in over five years.
Analysts caution that incidents at sea between the two nuclear powers carry inherent risks of escalation. Both nations maintain active naval patrols in the Arabian Sea, a critical maritime corridor for global energy trade, and the area near the Line of Control at sea remains poorly demarcated.
TheMEАhas asked Pakistan to provide its version of events and cooperate fully in establishing the facts around the collision. New Delhi has emphasized that it expects Islamabad to take responsibility if negligence on its part is established, while also calling for de-escalatory language from all sides.
