India, its maritime neighbours stand united to ensure security| India News

Jaishankar joined his counterparts from Sri Lanka, Mauritius and Seychelles to emphasise the importance of international laws, especially the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), in dealing with recent developments and ensuring freedom of navigation and unimpeded commerce at a session of the Raisina Dialogue focused on the future of the Indian Ocean.

The sinking of the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena by a US submarine near the coast of Sri Lanka on March 4 has triggered concerns about the expansion of the conflict in West Asia to India’s strategic backyard.

The Iranian warship was departing after participating in an International Fleet Review and a multi-nation exercise hosted by India. Since then, two more Iranian warships have docked in Sri Lanka and India and their crews accommodated onshore.

Jaishankar, the first senior Indian leader to comment on the sinking of IRIS Dena, said India received a message from the Iranian side on February 28 that one of its ships wanted to come into an Indian port after having problems. Permission was given for the vessel to do so on March 1 and the warship, IRIS Lavan, docked in Kochi on March 4.

IRIS Lavan’s crew, including many young cadets, are in a nearby facility.

“These 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,” Jaishankar said.

“For us, when this ship wanted to come in and that too in difficulties, it was the humane thing to do. We were guided by that principle. Of the other ships, one had a similar situation in Sri Lanka and they took the decision which they did. And one unfortunately didn’t make it,” he said, referring to the sinking of IRIS Dena.

“We approached it from the point of view of humanity, other than whatever the legal issues were. I think we did the right thing,” he added.

Jaishankar further insisted that India continues to be “net security provider” in the Indian Ocean, a region where external powers such as the US and China have maintained a military presence in places such as Diego Garcia, Bahrain and Djibouti.

“We are a net security provider, but that does not obviate or override the realities of what is the region, because it is a region where countries other than those of the region are present in a maritime form,” he said.

“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 came up during this period…The US 5th Fleet is based in Bahrain,” he added.

Sri Lanka’s foreign minister Vijitha Herath responded to the sinking of IRIS Dena and reported US pressure not to repatriate the warship’s crew members by emphasising the importance of following UNCLOS and international laws. “Sri Lanka faces so many challenges…We need to strengthen [the] implementation of international laws,” he said.

“In this incident also…we are following the international laws and we have taken all steps according to the international laws. I think we need not support any party. We took all steps in a humanitarian way,” Herath said.

Herath, Mauritius foreign minister Dhananjay Ramful and Seychelles foreign minister Barry Faure emphasised the importance of regional cooperation frameworks to ensure maritime security and uphold international laws. Jaishankar said India practices what it preaches by asking all countries to abide by judgements under UNCLOS.

Jaishankar also highlighted India’s focus on ensuring the safety of Indian seafarers and the 10 million Indian nationals living in West Asian countries amid conflicts.

“Indians are a very large segment of the people who man merchant ships. Every time there is an attack on a tanker or vessels carrying goods, it is very likely that all or part of that vessel is manned by Indians,” he said, noting there had been Indian fatalities in recent attacks on two oil tankers.