Amid reports that the INS Airavat was 'warned' by the Chinese Navy off the coast of Vietnam against entering Chinese waters in late July, Indian officials sought to downplay the incident today with the Ministry of External Affairs saying, 'the Airavat was on a friendly visit to Vietnam between 19 to 28 July 2011'.
On July 22, INS Airavat sailed from the Vietnamese port of Nha Trang towards Hai Phong, where it was to make a port call.
"At a distance of 45 nautical miles from the Vietnamese coast in the 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 her onward journey as scheduled."
The Ministry went on to say that 'there was no confrontation involving INS Airavat'.
However, it added that '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'.
In Beijing, the Chinese Foreign Ministry sought to obfuscate the issue by saying that inquiries have been made with the 'competent authorities' about the reported incident.
The issue kicked off when London-based Financial Times reported that five people confirmed the incident after the amphibious assault ship INS Airavat completed the scheduled port call in Vietnam.
"Something did happen," one source familiar with the incident told AFP, adding it was unclear exactly how far off Vietnam's coast it occurred.
"This is a typical Chinese approach," said the source, adding that Chinese enforcement vessels try to assert 'that this is their territory and what are you doing in their territory?'.
Vietnam's foreign ministry could not immediately respond to a request for comment, and the Indian ambassador in Hanoi was out of the country.
In recent months, the Philippines and Vietnam have objected to what they said was Chinese harassment of oil exploration vessels and fishermen in the South China Sea.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in July condemned acts of 'intimidation' in the waters, where it says it has a national interest in free navigation.
Chinese leaders have insisted their military modernisation programme is aimed solely at 'self-defence'.