Pakistani warship collides with Indian vessel, sparking diplomatic protest over grey-zone tactics

On Tuesday evening a Pakistani Navy vessel collided with an Indian Navy ship while the latter was on a routine mission in the northern Arabian Sea. Indian navy officials described the Pakistani ship's high-speed approach as unprofessional and unsafe, although no damage was confirmed. New Delhi responded by summoning Pakistan's charge d’affaires and directing its own envoy in Islamabad to raise the matter, arguing the act violated mutually agreed confidence-building measures and Article 10 of the 1991 notice-of-exercise agreement.

This is the second known ramming incident since 2011, when PNS Babur struck an Indian vessel. Analysts link the episode to a broader pattern of grey-zone tactics, noting China's use of ramming and water-cannon attacks in the South China Sea, and a RAND report urging that such force be treated as a serious use of force. The collision also underscores unfinished commitments from the 1999 Lahore Declaration to create mechanisms preventing naval mishaps between the nuclear-armed neighbours.