New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar confirmed on Saturday that India permitted an Iranian ship to dock in Kochi on humanitarian grounds following a request from the Iranian side on February 28 as the vessel faced some problems.
Permission was given for the vessel to dock on March 1, and the warship, IRIS Lavan, docked in Kochi on March 4. The vessel remains in Kochi, with its 183 crew members currently accommodated at Indian naval facilities.
Speaking at an interactive session at the Raisina Dialogue, Jaishankar also made an indirect reference to the sinking of Iranian warship IRIS Dena off the coast of Sri Lanka on March 4.
“You had these ships, and we got a message from the Iranian side that one of the ships, which presumably was closest to us — to our waters 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,” Jaishankar said.
“When they set out and 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. 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 where 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,” the minister added.
Jaishankar also highlighted India’s growing role in the Indian Ocean as a net security provider but at the same time noted that it doesn’t override the realities of the region.
In that context, he mentioned the military bases of Diego Garcia, Djibouti and Hambantota.
“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,” the Minister said.
