Pakistan picked wrong warship to mess with :::: PNS Hunain is an offshore patrol vessel, the Kolkata-class destroyers are among India's most powerful and advanced warships

Critiquing is a must for a society or a nation ... for progress in any field.

###

The BRICS bonhomie between India and China made headlines and photographs went viral.

However. it is also true that the Indian Ocean has seen an increase in 'competitiveness' between New Delhi and Beijing.

Deep-water port construction in littoral states and military patrols are just two of the actions we may talk about. Escalating actions - big or small - in any manner and rhetoric might jeopardize peace.  

Xi Jinping is good at crossing many bridges. China has a good relationship with Pakistan - with or without 'BRICS smiles'.   

China is India’s largest trading partner and shares a long border. Xi Jinping and Narendra Modi during bilaterals on the sidelines of BRICS Summit on Sept 12 and 13 pledged to improve ties further.  

But there remains a 'major or a serious' challenge for India in the Indian Ocean region due to the  growing influence of Pakistan and China under the CPEC and the BRI flag. 

Relations between India and Pakistan are well known. 

The future hardly appears to promise improvement. And China and India have had tense ties historically.  

Now, lately the Pakistani warship PNS Hunain's collision with an Indian Navy destroyer in the North Arabian Sea was seemingly 'deliberate', say experts. 

As a bad learner, Pakistan has done two things. It has learnt Chinese 'tactics' and also  brought China's ships. The theoretic argument is pretty strong -- how can such a collision happen?  

This is seen as a 'belligerence' and what the PLA Navy does, (or the maritime militia allegedly) often does.  

China and the Philippines have clashed repeatedly around outcroppings in the South China Sea, which China claims almost in its entirety. 

 

The Philippine coast guard said that two Chinese coast guard ships hit a Filipino fisheries vessel, the BRP Datu Gumbay Piang, with powerful water cannons for nearly 30 minutes “resulting in significant damage,” including in the captain’s cabin and the bridge. 

A glass window was shattered and injured a personnel while the deluge of water caused a short circuit that affected electrical outlets and five outdoor air-conditioning units, it said.  

The Pakistani vessel PNS Hunain approached a frontline Indian Navy warship at high speed on Tuesday in international waters in the North Arabian Sea, about 120 nautical miles from the Gulf of Oman.

Indian officials said Hunain was manoeuvring in an "unprofessional and unsafe manner", resulting in a collision. The Pakistani vessel was damaged and headed towards its home port, while no damage was reported to the Indian warship, which continued its surveillance mission.  

The Pakistani vessel PNS Hunain approached a frontline Indian Navy warship at high speed on Tuesday in international waters in the North Arabian Sea, about 120 nautical miles from the Gulf of Oman.

Indian officials said Hunain was manoeuvring in an "unprofessional and unsafe manner", resulting in a collision. The Pakistani vessel was damaged and headed towards its home port, while no damage was reported to the Indian warship, which continued its surveillance mission.  Had the Indian side (Kolkata-class destroyer) responded more aggressively, the consequences could have been far more serious.

The Indian ship Captain appears to have responded calmly to the Pakistani provocation.  

India and Pakistan already have a mechanism intended to prevent such dangerous encounters.

Article 10 of the April 1991 Agreement on Advance Notice on Military Exercises, Manoeuvres and Troops Movements says, "The Naval ships and submarines belonging to the other country are not to close less than three Nautical Miles (NMs) from each other so as to avoid any accident while operating in international waters." 

Three nautical miles translate to around 5.5 km. 

The PNS Hunain is a 2,600-tonne offshore patrol vessel, INS Kolkata is one of India's most powerful and advanced warships, nearly three times its weight (7,400 tonnes). Clearly, Pakistan picked the wrong ship to mess with.

The incident, however, has sparked diplomatic tension. PNS Hunain suffered a huge dent and a possible crack. An OSINT account, War and Gore, claimed that four Pakistani personnel were injured in the incident. However, there has been no official statement from Pakistan.

ends