Escorting MV Suez: Row deepens as India lodges counter-protest.

[bhramos]

PNS Babur

NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD:
In a classic tit-for-tat move that has come to define their volatile relationship, New Delhi on Saturday lodged a protest with Islamabad over Pakistan naval ship (PNS) Babur violating relevant regulations on navigational safety by its "risky" manoeuvres, and jeopardising the safety of Indian naval ship (INS) Godavari and its crew, the Times of India reported on Saturday.
On Friday, the Pakistan Foreign Office had lodged an identical complaint with the Indian government over the "dangerous manoeuvre" of INS Godavari as it escorted Egyptian merchant vessel (MV) Suez, recently released by Somali pirates, to Port Salalah in Oman.
Both PNS Babur and INS Godavari are providing cover for MV Suez that has 22 released hostages on board, including six Indians, 11 Egyptians, four Pakistanis and one Sri Lankan, freed after 10 months in captivity.
The protests come a day after Pakistan and India announced that their top diplomats would meet in Islamabad next week to discuss the Kashmir dispute, along with issues pertaining to peace and security between the two nations, for the first time in three years.
After Pakistan lodged its complaint, Indian external affairs ministry released a statement on Saturday saying the Naval advisor of the Pakistan high commission had been summoned by the ministry of defence and "our serious concern on this incident was conveyed."
Alternative accounts
According to the Pakistani foreign office, PNS Babur, part of the international combined task force on anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden, had been escorting MV Suez when the Indian warship moved dangerously close to PNS Babur and brushed against it almost 100 nautical miles east of Port Salalah.
An Indian navy official refuted Pakistani allegations that an Indian vessel had put at risk MV Suez. "Reports of aggression by INS Godavari are incorrect and based on misinformation," he said.
As per Indian media reports, INS Godavari had joined up with MV Suez on June 16 to escort the ship which is carrying six Indians among 22 sailors.
Taking credit
The Indian navy has already been under immense domestic pressure for not sending help in time to sailors and being beaten by Pakistan in measures to get the hostages released and escorted back to safety.
The release materialised after hectic efforts by the Ansar Burney Trust, which arranged a $2.1 million ransom to rescue the hostages last Monday.
India, which was due to contribute $500,000 as part of its share of the ransom fee, never turned up with its promised amount, almost putting the lives of 22 sailors in jeopardy.
After the sailors and their ship were released by pirates on Tuesday,MV Suez once again came under attack from Somali pirates. However, by this time PNS Babur had reached the ship and thwarted the attack.
Impact on talks
The event has snowballed into a diplomatic row as both countries lodged tit-for-tat protests with each other for impeding humanitarian missions.
However, it is not yet clear if the latest incident could impact crucial foreign secretary-level talks on June 23-24.
The two-day parleys will also discuss confidence building measures (CBMs) and promotion of friendly exchanges, the statement said.
Talks on the Kashmir dispute, which has been the main source of friction between the two countries for the past 60 years, will be the first since the November 2008 Mumbai attacks.
Suez runs out of fuel
Meanwhile, Burney announced on Saturday that although technical faults in MV Suez had been fixed, the ship has run out of fuel.
Speaking to Express 24/7, Burney said that if fuel is not supplied toMV Suez in the next 24 hours, all of its crew will have to be rescued.
Pakistan Navy sources add that the Panama based company which owns Suez has ordered another ship The Hasic to assist the stranded vessel.
The Hasic is expected to tow Suez early Sunday morning.

Escorting MV Suez: Row deepens as India lodges counter-protest – The Express Tribune

 

[nitesh]

This is getting interesting, ship was taking waters, and the owners have abandoned the ship and crew

MV Suez crew shifted to Pakistani warship PNS Babar - The Times of India

 

[Yusuf]

Anyone with a good idea of rules of engagement in peace time when two enemy surface combatants come close to each other?
Could the IN ship considered the Pak boat as a threat when it came too close and sent it to the bottom of the sea?

 

[JAYRAM]

India denies its warship obstructing Pakistani naval vessel in Gulf of Aden, People's Daily

07:37, June 19, 2011

India Saturday dismissed as " totally baseless" Pakistani allegations that its naval vessel was obstructed by an Indian warship in the Gulf of Aden while escorting a merchant carrier that had been freed by Somali pirates, according to Indo-Asian News Service.

External Affairs Ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash said the two countries had been coordinating with their overseas interlocutors in the months that led to the release of the Egyptian cargo ship MV Suez and its sailors by Somali pirates. The freed ship was sailing to Oman with its crew.

"Insinuations to the contrary by a few voices stem from lack of appreciation of facts and are totally baseless," Prakash said on the Pakistani allegation made by the foreign office in Islamabad.

"MV Suez is now heading for Oman," he said, alluding to Pakistani claims that India had not come to the aid of MV Suez despite the presence of six Indians among the 22-man crew.

Indian official sources had earlier said that the reports of aggression by Indian frigate INS Godavari vis-a-vis Pakistani frigate PNS Babar in the Gulf of Aden were "incorrect and based on misinformation", according to the report.

Pakistan's foreign office had Friday lodged a formal protest and said that its frigate PNS Babar was brushed past by INS Godavari.

Pakistan claimed that INS Godavari "hampered humanitarian operations" carried out by PNS Babar June 16 while escorting the MV Suez.

India denies its warship obstructing Pakistani naval vessel in Gulf of Aden - People's Daily Online

 

[nitesh]

This is the true is a larger sense:

Terror at the high seas : Pakistan plugs into piracy - Frontier India - News, Analysis, Opinion

 

[asianobserve]

Another boring tit-for-tat drama. Why don't the parties just bomb each other and be done with it? I thought South Asians are among the bravest people in the world. Or the parties are just good at chest beating?

 

[nitesh]

Another boring tit-for-tat drama. Why don't the parties just bomb each other and be done with it? I thought South Asians are among the bravest people in the world. Or the parties are just good at chest beating?

What exactly you are trying to convey here?

 

[sandeepdg]

Another boring tit-for-tat drama. Why don't the parties just bomb each other and be done with it? I thought South Asians are among the bravest people in the world. Or the parties are just good at chest beating?

Another illogical comment !! Please if you are not interested in the discussion, don't post crap !

 

[Virendra]

What exactly you are trying to convey here?

He's saying that we should bomb each other. Perhaps he's bored that no one died there.

Regards,
Virendra

 

[sandeepdg]

Anyone with a good idea of rules of engagement in peace time when two enemy surface combatants come close to each other?
Could the IN ship considered the Pak boat as a threat when it came too close and sent it to the bottom of the sea?

I don't have any specific knowledge, but what I know is that in international waters even two potential opponents always behave in a graceful matured manner, not in a hostile manner. The provocation was caused by the Pakistanis intentionally, otherwise they would have just criss crossed each other without any incident happening without them if they had behaved in normal manner, that's how it goes in international waters between navies.