India and Pakistan trade blame over naval collision

India and Pakistan traded blame Wednesday over a collision between vessels operated by their navies, with both countries saying they summoned each other's top diplomats to lodge protests.

Pakistan's foreign ministry said the incident took place Tuesday while its navy was conducting a biennial exercise in its exclusive economic zone. India said the collision occurred in international waters and “did not cause any major damage”.

A senior Indian official said the incident happened late Tuesday in the northern Arabian Sea. The official said a Pakistani naval ship approached a frontline Indian naval warship on a routine surveillance mission at high speed and manoeuvred in an unsafe and unprofessional manner.

Pakistan said “the Indian vessel carried out aggressive maneuvers in dangerously close proximity of Pakistani naval ship, resulting in contact between the two vessels”.

India's foreign ministry said it lodged a “strong protest” over what it called unacceptable and unprofessional conduct by Pakistani naval units. Pakistan's foreign ministry said it asked India's representative to convey that Islamabad “strongly rejects this belligerent Indian action”.

Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan have fought multiple wars since independence in 1947, mainly over Kashmir, which both countries claim. In May 2025, they fought a deadly four-day conflict after gunmen killed more than two dozen tourists, mostly Hindus, in Kashmir. New Delhi blamed Islamabad for the attack, a charge Pakistan denied.