India on Friday denied Pakistan’s claim that the country’s Navy had detected and driven away an Indian submarine from its waters. The Pakistani Navy said that they had detected the submarine “south of the Pakistani coast” on Monday.

“Thereafter, despite the submarine’s desperate efforts to escape detection, it was continuously tracked by Pakistan Navy Fleet units and pushed well clear of our waters,” the Pakistani Navy press release said. The Navy also said it had footage and photographs to bolster its claim. Commodore (Retd) Syed M Obaidullahtold Geo News that the submarine was headed towards the coast of Balochistan.

However, Indian Navy spokesperson Captain DK Sharma said, “The Indian Navy categorically denies the report as blatant lies.”

Relations between India and Pakistan have worsened since the the crisis in Kashmir following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani. India has held that there has been an increase in ceasefire violations after it carried out its surgical strikes on “terror launchpads”. The strikes by the Indian Army came after militants on September 18 attacked an Army installation in Uri, killing 19 soldiers. India had accused Pakistan of being involved in the attack, but Islamabad had dismissed the allegations as “baseless”.

New Delhi and Islamabad have also been involved in a diplomatic row, with each accusing the other’s foreign officials of spying for their governments. On October 27, India had declared Pakistani High Commission official Mehmood Akhtar “persona non grata”. Eight Indian High Commission officials then left Pakistan following charges of indulging in “subversive activities”.