After Iranian Ship Sunk By US, S Jaishankar Explains "Reality Of Indian Ocean"

Days after a United States submarine sank an Iranian frigate in the Indian Ocean off Sri Lanka's coast, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has explained India's decision to grant docking permission to another Iranian naval vessel, pointing to the longstanding presence of foreign military facilities in the region as part of the "reality of the Indian Ocean".

Speaking at the 2026 Raisinia Dialogue in New Delhi, Jaishankar outlined the sequence of events involving the Iranian ships. 

"Here's the situation. 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. When the ships had set out and when they came here, the situation was totally different," Jaishankar said. 

"They were coming in for a fleet review, and then they got in a way caught on the wrong side of events," he added. 

The comments come in the context of three Iranian naval vessels that found themselves at the centre of the escalating war between Iran, the United States, and Israel in the first week of March. 

The ships -- IRIS Dena, IRIS Lavan, and IRIS Bushehr -- had been operating in the Indian Ocean and had participated in the International Fleet Review and MILAN 2026 exercises hosted by the Indian Navy in Visakhapatnam earlier in February.

Jaishankar stressed that India's approach was guided by humanitarian considerations.

"One obviously had a similar situation in Sri Lanka, they took the decision which they did and one of them unfortunately didn't make it... We approached the situation from the point of view of humanity, other than whatever the legal issues were and I think we did the right thing,' Jaishankar added. 

On March 4, the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena was struck by a torpedo fired from a United States submarine in international waters approximately 40 nautical miles off Sri Lanka's southern coast near Galle. 

"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.

Diego Garcia is the largest island in the Chagos Archipelago administered as the British Indian Ocean Territory, has hosted a joint UK-US military base since the early 1970s. Construction began in the early 1970s following a 1966 agreement between Britain and the United States, with US naval facilities commissioned in 1973. The base supports air and naval operations and has served as a key logistics hub for US forces in various conflicts.

On March 4, the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena was struck by a torpedo fired from a United States submarine in international waters approximately 40 nautical miles off Sri Lanka's southern coast near Galle. 

The attack caused the vessel to sink. Sri Lankan officials recovered 87 bodies, while 32 sailors were rescued alive and taken to Galle for medical treatment. Dozens more remained missing. Some reports cited between 80 and 87 bodies recovered, with variations in the number of missing sailors.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed the strike in Washington. 

"An American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters. Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo," he said. He described the attack as a "quiet death" and noted it was the first time since World War II that the United States had sunk an enemy ship using a torpedo.

The IRIS Dena had been returning after participating in the naval exercise in Visakhapatnam.

Separately, another Iranian vessel, IRIS Lavan, had sought emergency docking from India after reporting a technical malfunction. The request was received on February 28, with India approving it on March 1. The ship docked in Kochi on March 4, the same day as the sinking of the Dena. The vessel remains anchored in Kochi while assessments of the technical issue continue.

A third ship, IRIS Bushehr, reported engine trouble while positioned outside Sri Lankan waters and requested assistance. Sri Lanka agreed to allow it to dock and took custody of the vessel.