India summons Pakistan envoy after naval units collide in Arabian Sea

A senior Indian official said that the incident happened late yesterday in the north of the Arabian Sea. — AFP pic

First Published: Wednesday, 16 Sep 2026 4:43 PM MYT

NEW DELHI, Sept 16 — India summoned Pakistan’s top diplomat in New Delhi today to lodge a “strong protest” blaming its arch-rival’s navy for a collision between naval units in international waters.

“A strong protest was lodged with him over the unacceptable and unprofessional conduct of Pakistani naval units at sea that led to a collision with a unit of the Indian Navy,” New Delhi’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

It said that the incident took place in international waters, and “did not cause any major damage”.

A senior Indian official said that the incident happened late yesterday in the north of the Arabian Sea.

“A Pakistan naval ship closed in on a frontline Indian naval warship on a routine surveillance mission... at high speed, manoeuvring in a unprofessional and unsafe manner,” the official told AFP.

Pakistan’s envoy to India was instructed to tell Islamabad of “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 Indian foreign ministry’s statement added.

Nuclear-armed arch-rivals India and Pakistan share a deep distrust and have fought multiple wars since gaining independence in 1947, primarily over Muslim-majority region of Kashmir, which both countries claim.

They also have tens of thousands of heavily-armed soldiers deployed all along their long and militarised border.

In May 2025, the two countries fought a deadly four-day conflict after armed gunmen killed over two dozen tourists, mostly Hindus, in Kashmir.

New Delhi blamed Islamabad for the attack, a charge Pakistan denied. — AFP