Indian defense ministry rejects Pak propaganda to detect navy submarine in its waters

Hours after Pakistan claimed to have detected an Indian submarine before it could enter its waters, India on Tuesday said the Navy "does not take cognizance of such propaganda," adding that "deployments remain undeterred". "The Indian Navy remains deployed as necessary to protect National Maritime Interests.

Over the past several days, we have witnessed Pakistan indulging in false propaganda and the spread of misinformation. The Indian Navy does not take cognizance of such propaganda. Our deployments remain undeterred," read a statement issued by the Ministry of Defence.

Pakistan claimed to have detected an Indian submarine before it could enter its waters, according to media reports. "The Pakistan Navy used its specialised skills to ward off the submarine, successfully keeping it from entering Pakistani waters," various news channels said quoting a statement issued by the spokesperson of the country's Navy.

"Keeping the (Pakistan) government's initiative of peace in mind, the Indian submarine was not targetted by the Pakistan Navy," said the statement quoted by the media. The last time that the two navies engaged in a fight were during the 1971 war.

On February 27, the fighter jets of the two countries engaged in a dogfight in the skies of Jammu and Kashmir after Pakistani F-16 planes transgressed into the Indian air space. One of the F-16s was shot down by the Indian Air Force, which also lost a MiG-21 fighter plane whose pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was taken into captivity by the Pakistan Army when he landed in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) after ejection.

Tensions have been high between India and Pakistan since the IAF hit the JeM terror camp in Balakot in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, 12 days after around 40 CRPF personnel were killed in the Pulwama terror attack on February 14. JeM had claimed responsibility for the Pulwama attack.

(With inputs from agencies.)