S Jaishankar explains 'reality of Indian Ocean' days after US sinks Iranian warship

EAM S Jaishankar

• India permits Iranian naval vessel to dock in Kochi for aid
• Jaishankar noted foreign military presence in Indian Ocean
• Iranian ships joined International Fleet Review, MILAN 2026

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Days after an Iranian frigate was sunk by a US submarine in the Indian Ocean off Sri Lanka, external affairs minister S Jaishankar explained why India allowed another Iranian naval vessel to dock, describing the presence of foreign military infrastructure as a long-standing “reality of the Indian Ocean.”

Speaking at the Raisina Dialogue 2026 in New Delhi, he laid out the sequence of events related to the Iranian ships.

“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,” Jaishankar said.

“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. 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 remarks came against the backdrop of three Iranian naval vessels that were drawn into the escalating conflict involving Iran, the United States, and Israel in the last few days.

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

According to Jaishankar, India’s response was shaped primarily by humanitarian considerations. “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,” he said.

Responding to debates on social media about the presence of foreign militaries in the region, Jaishankar said the strategic realities of the Indian Ocean were not new.

“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 military facility operated by the United States and the United Kingdom on the island of the same name in the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean.

The Iranian vessel IRIS Dena was sunk by the United States as part of Operation Epic Fury launched on February 28 alongside Israel, which has named its own campaign Operation Roaring Lion. More than 80 sailors aboard the frigate were killed, while 32 were rescued by the Sri Lanka Navy.