INS Kolkata Collision: India Rejects Pakistan Claim

MEA Explains INS Kolkata Movement

Speaking at a weekly briefing, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said that the "routine deployment" by INS Kolkata was taken when the PNS Hunain performed a dangerous overtaking manoeuvre that led to the collision. 

"Recent events involving Pakistan and India have taken place. I would like to clarify a few things before you. We have seen Pakistan's response to the protest lodged by us. As always, it is an evasive reply or an attempt to hide the truth, which was expected from them. We completely reject the allegations made against us. I would like to place some facts before you and reiterate them. INS Kolkata was on a routine deployment in the Western Arabian Sea when a Pakistani naval ship, PNS Hunain, behaved in an unacceptable and unprofessional manner at sea, resulting in a collision," he said.

He added, "The dangerous overtaking maneuver by PNS Hunain was a grave violation of Article 10 of the Agreement on Advance Notice on Military Exercises, Maneuvers, and Troop Movements between India and Pakistan of April 1991. This article explicitly states that naval units in the sea should not come within three nautical miles of each other.”

Maritime Safety Rules Cited

Jaiswal also said that the move by the Pakistani ship was in breach of international maritime regulations relating to avoidance of collisions at sea.

He said, "The Pakistani ship also infringed the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea. The Pakistani 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. The incident did not cause any major damage to INS Kolkata, and she remains at sea.”

India Lodged Formal Protest

On September 15, India took up the incident with Pakistan's charge d' affairs Saad Warraich and registered a protest over the collision. It accused the Pakistani warship of conducting an unprofessional manoeuvre that breach the bilateral agreement. India has maintained that PNS Hunain was on high speed before it came within close proximity of INS Kolkata.

Pakistan later summoned the Indian charge d'affaires Satyanjal Pandey and accused the Indian warship of undertaking "aggressive" manoeuvres, which caused the collision. They also maintained that the incident occurred inside its EEZ and during Pakistan’s SEASPARK-26 exercise.