Kamal Ghorui
EAM S Jaishankar
NEW DELHI: In the first response from a senior government minister on the sinking of the Iranian warship IRIS Dena by the United States Navy in the Indian Ocean, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said on Saturday that one Iranian vessel had sought and received permission to dock in India, while another – IRIS Dena – was caught on the “wrong side of events” near Sri Lanka.Also Read | India gave safe harbour to another Iranian ship days before IRIS Dena was sunk by USJaishankar made the remarks during the Raisina Dialogue 2026 being held in New Delhi.
“I too support UNCLOS (UN Convention on the Law of the Sea) and international law… We got a message from the Iranian side that one of the ships, which presumably was closest to our borders at that point of time, wanted to come into our port. They were reporting that they were having problems… On the 1st March, we said you can come in and it took them a few days to sail in and then they docked in Kochi… There were a lot of young cadets and they disembarked,” the external affairs minister stated.He added that there were two other ships as well, and the situation changed between them coming to India for fleet review and leaving after the exercise.
Poll
Do you think India made the right decision in allowing the Iranian vessel to dock due to its difficulties?
“This ship, or these ships, there were two other ships…When they set out and came here the situation was totally different. They were coming in for a fleet review and then they got caught on the wrong side of events. So for us, when this ship wanted to come in and that too in difficulties, I think it was the humane thing to do…We were guided by that principle. In a sense of the other ships, one obviously had a similar situation in Sri Lanka and they took the decision that they did, and one unfortunately didn’t make it,” he explained.The Iranian frigates had participated in the MILAN-2026 exercise hosted by India in Visakhapatnam last month. IRIS Dena was on its way back in international waters when it was struck by a torpedo fired by a US Navy submarine early Wednesday, described by secretary of war, Pete Hegseth, as “quiet death.”The fact that the vessel that was sunk was returning from India and was struck in the Indian Ocean led the opposition to criticise the government.Also Read | IRIS Dena sinks: Blaming India for US strike on Iran frigate illogical, says BJPAddressing this aspect, Jaishankar pointed to how foreign militaries already have a presence in the region.“There are a lot of social media debates going on over this…. Please understand the reality of the Indian Ocean. Diego Garcia has been in the Indian Ocean for the last five decades…The fact that there are foreign forces based in Djibouti happened in the early first decade of this century. Hambantota Port (in Sri Lanka) came up during this period,” he stated.Diego Garcia is a joint US-UK military base located on the island of the same name in the Chagos archipelago in the Indian Ocean.Also Read | Iran warns US will ‘regret’ sub attack on IRIS Dena; 2nd warship seeks refuge in Sri LankaIRIS Dena was sunk by the United States under its Operation Epic Fury against Iran, launched on February 28 along with Israel, which calls its campaign Operation Roaring Lion. More than 80 sailors aboard the frigate were killed, while 32 were rescued by the Sri Lankan Navy.Tehran has responded by launching Operation True Promise 4, under which it has targeted Israel as well as American military bases in Gulf states. The strikes have also targeted civilian infrastructure in the Gulf countries, drawing them into the conflict.
