In what was his first reaction to the sinking of the Iranian warship IRIS Dena and India allowing the docking of IRIS Lavan, external affairs minister S Jaishankar on Saturday said that he supports United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and international law, and added that IRIS Lavan was allowed to dock in Kochi on humanitarian grounds.
The IRIS Lavan, which took part in the International Fleet Review, had earlier docked in Kochi after developing technical problems. Iran had approached India days before the IRIS Dena incident south of Sri Lanka.
ALSO READ | IRIS Dena was ‘unarmed, unloaded’ during return from India when US attacked it: Iran
The vessel was in the region as part of the Iranian naval presence for the International Fleet Review and MILAN 2026, held from February 15 to February 25. India cleared the docking request on March 1, and the ship’s 183 crew members are currently staying at naval facilities in Kochi.
Speaking at the Raisina Dialogue, Jaishankar said, “I too support UNCLOS 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. And so, my recollection is this was on the 28th, and on the 1st, we said, ‘Okay, you can come in’. And it took them a few days to sail in, and then they docked in Kochi. And the ship is there. And obviously, the people on the ship, a lot of them were young cadets, that is my understanding. They have disembarked; they are, you know, in a nearby facility… When they set out and came here, the situation was totally different.”
He added, “They were coming in for a fleet review, and then they got, in a way, 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. And I think we were guided by that principle. And in a sense, of the other ships, one obviously had a similar situation in Sri Lanka, and they took the decision which they did, and one unfortunately didn’t make it. So I think we really approached it from the point of view of, in a sense, of humanity, of other than, you know, whatever the legal issues were. And I think we did the right thing.”
In the case of IRIS Dena, the Indian Navy launched search and rescue operations after a distress call from the vessel was received at the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Colombo. The Navy deployed a long range maritime patrol aircraft to support the search operation being led by Sri Lanka.
A total of 87 people were killed in the sinking of IRIS Dena. At the time it sank, the Iranian warship was equipped with heavy guns, surface to air missiles, anti ship missiles and torpedoes. It was also carrying a helicopter, as mentioned in an earlier HT report. However, Iran’s deputy foreign minister Saeed Khatibzadeh later said that IRIS Dena was “unarmed and unloaded” during its journey back after participating in the naval exercise in India.
Important to understand the reality of Indian Ocean: EAM
Speaking about the situation in the Indian Ocean, the minister said it was important to understand the realities of 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 came up during this period,” he said.
The minister also called for attention to the safety of merchant ships operating in waters that could be affected by conflict.
“Indians are a large segment of people who man merchant ships. Every time there is an attack on a vessel carrying goods, it is very likely that a part of the vessel is manned by Indians… We should give a lot of weight to this because we have had fatalities in the last few days… There has got to be adequate recognition in the country about the interest of our people, the merchant mariners and what we could be doing to safeguard them,” he said.
“Our approach to the crisis is driven by the fact that we have 9-10 million people living in the Gulf. Their well-being is a factor just as much as that of merchant shipping has to be… Countries have their own interests, their economic or energy concerns, and, naturally, our policies will take all of that into account. I felt the merchant marine part has not got the prominence,” he added.
With inputs from agencies
About the Author
