US Dials Down Tension Over Warship Passage Through India's Exclusive Zone

John FKirby, the Pentagon Press Secretary, has said that the Destroyer USS John Paul Jones conducted "innocent passage" through waters off the Maldives, indicating that military manoeuvres had not been carried out.

The United States has sought to dial down differences with India on the passage of a US warship through India's Exclusive Economic Zone in the Arabian Sea, which had taken place without New Delhi's permission on April 7.   John F Kirby, the Pentagon Press Secretary, has said that the Destroyer USS John Paul Jones conducted "innocent passage" through waters off the Maldives, indicating that military manoeuvres had not been carried out.   Earlier, in a statement, the government had said the United Nation's Convention on the Law of the Sea does not authorise other states to carry out military exercises of manoeuvres on the continental shelf or "Exclusive Economic Zone".   "The Government of India's stated position on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea is that the Convention does not authorise other States to carry out in the Exclusive Economic Zone and on the continental shelf, military exercises or manoeuvres, in particular those involving the use of weapons or explosives, without the consent of the coastal state," the Ministry of External Affairs said.