India said it permitted an Iranian naval vessel IRIS Lavan to dock at one of its ports just days before a frigate from the Persian Gulf nation was sunk by a United States submarine.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said allowing the Iranian ship to dock when it was facing hurdles “was the humane thing to do” at the time. He added that the vessel had been scheduled to arrive for a fleet review but had ended up being “caught on the wrong side of events”
“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… 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…” ANI quoted Jaishankar as saying.
He added, “They were coming in for a fleet review and then they got in a way caught on the wrong side of events… 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.”
According to an Indian official, Tehran had approached New Delhi on February 28 seeking urgent permission for the vessel IRIS Lavan to dock, citing technical problems. The request was approved on March 1, and the ship has been stationed at Kochi since Wednesday. The official added that the vessel’s 183 crew members are currently being accommodated at naval facilities in the city.
(This is a developing story. More to come)
