The Foreign Office denied any confrontation between an Indian Naval ship and a Chinese vessel off the coast of Vietnam last month as suggested by a news report which was picked up by news channels for better part of the day.
``We are treating this as a non event. Nothing happened at all,’’ said diplomatic sources.
Reacting to reports suggesting confrontation, Official Spokesperson of the Ministry for External Affairs Vishnu Prakash said an Indian Naval vessel, INS Airavat, paid a friendly visit to Vietnam between July 19 and 28. On July 22, INS Airavat sailed from the Vietnamese port of Nha Trang towards Hai Phong.
About 45 nautical miles from the Vietnamese coast in South China Sea, it was contacted on open radio channel by a caller identifying himself as the “Chinese Navy” stating that “you are entering Chinese waters”. No ship or aircraft was visible from INS Airavat, which proceeded on its onward journey as scheduled.
`` India supports freedom of navigation in international waters, including in the South China Sea, and the right of passage in accordance with accepted principles of international law. These principles should be respected by all,’’ added Mr. Prakash.
This is the second time in recent months that anonymous calls are being ascribed to another country’s security organisation. Last month, reports had alleged that two mysterious calls, traced allegedly to Iran, had asked a meat trader in Meerut and a farmer in Baghpat (both in Uttar Pradesh) to plant bombs. The Iranian Embassy had informed Tehran asking it to investigate the allegations and felt this could be the work of those who wished to strain India-Iran ties.