External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Saturday explained India’s decision to allow an Iranian naval vessel to dock in Kochi amid the escalating conflict in West Asia, saying the ships had been “caught on the wrong side of events”.
Speaking at the Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi, Jaishankar described how India received a request from Iran regarding one of its naval vessels that had reported technical problems.
“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.
The external minister noted that the Iranian ships had originally travelled to India to take part in naval engagements before the regional conflict intensified. IRIS Dena, IRIS Lavan, and IRIS Bushehr had participated in the International Fleet Review and MILAN 2026 exercises hosted by the Indian Navy in Visakhapatnam earlier in February.
“They were coming in for a fleet review, and then they got in a way caught on the wrong side of events,” he added.
#WATCH | Raisina Dialogue 2026 | EAM Dr S Jaishankar says, “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… pic.twitter.com/CujBWJkXIL
— ANI (@ANI) March 7, 2026
The remarks come amid heightened tensions involving Iran, the United States and Israel during the first week of March.
Jaishankar emphasised that India’s decision was driven primarily by humanitarian considerations rather than purely legal or strategic factors.
“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.
Jaishankar On IRIS Dena’s Sinking
On March 4, the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena was hit by a torpedo fired from a United States submarine in international waters about 40 nautical miles off the southern coast of Galle. Sri Lankan officials recovered 87 bodies, while 32 sailors were rescued alive after the ship sank while returning after participating in the naval exercise in Vishakhapatnam. The incident was confirmed by US Defence Secreatry Pete Hegseth.
Referring to the debate surrounding the incident, Jaishankar also addressed discussions circulating on social media about the strategic dynamics of the Indian Ocean.
“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 came up during this period,” he said.
