Indian and Pakistani Warships Collided — What Happened?

India called in Pakistan's top diplomat in New Delhi on September 16, 2026, after warships from the two countries collided in the Arabian Sea the day before. India's foreign ministry said a Pakistani naval ship hit an Indian warship in international waters on September 15, according to Al Jazeera.

The diplomat is called a charge d'affaires, a stand-in leader when there is no ambassador. Calling him in sent the protest to the highest Pakistani representation in the capital.

India described Pakistan's navy conduct as "unacceptable and unprofessional" and said it caused contact with an Indian Navy vessel. The protest was lodged directly with Pakistan's envoy in New Delhi.

New Delhi said the collision broke a 1991 agreement that requires ships and submarines from both sides to stay at least three nautical miles apart in international waters. Think of it like a minimum safe distance between cars. Pakistan's diplomat was asked to tell his government to respect the rules to prevent another incident.

India also told its own diplomat in Islamabad to lodge the same protest with Pakistan's foreign ministry, so the complaint is on record in both capitals. Pakistan had given no immediate comment as of September 16, 2026, according to Al Jazeera.

There are no ambassadors in either capital. Ties were downgraded in 2019 after New Delhi revoked the special status of Indian-administered Kashmir. The two states have fought three major wars since independence from British rule in 1947, two of them over Kashmir.

The broader context here is about rules that keep sea encounters from turning political. A clear distance rule gives both sides a simple test of what happened.

In my view, India's double protest seeks calm through process. A formal summons carries more weight than a press note, and raising it in both cities warns against repetition while leaving space for Pakistan's version.