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 co-ordinating 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, Xinhua said. "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.
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