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India gave harbour to Iran ship at Kochi after Tehran’s request
India has allowed Iranian warship IRIS Lavan to dock at Kochi daysafter US torpedoed and sunk Iris Dena frigate near Sri Lanka.
New Delhi: India has allowed an Iranian warship to dock at the southern port of Kochi following a request from Tehran, and the vessel’s 183-member crew has been accommodated at naval facilities, government officials said on Friday, two days after an Iranian frigate was torpedoed and sunk by a US submarine near the coast of Sri Lanka.
IRIS Lavan, an amphibious warfare vessel, was in the region to participate in an International Fleet Review hosted by India last month. It docked at Kochi on Wednesday, the same day that the frigate IRIS Dena was sunk about 19 nautical miles off Sri Lanka’s coast, killing 87 sailors and dramatically widening the US-Iran conflict.
On Thursday, Sri Lankan authorities allowed another Iranian warship — IRIS Booshehr — to take shelter in the country and accommodated its 208-member crew at a naval camp. IRIS Booshehr too had participated in India’s International Fleet Review and sought permission to enter a Sri Lankan port after experiencing engine problems.
“India was approached by Iran to take in IRIS Lavan, which was in the region for the International Fleet Review, on February 28,” said an official who declined to be identified. “Approval was accorded for the docking on March 1, and IRIS Lavan docked at Kochi on March 4,” he said.
The request from the Iranian side indicated that a docking at Kochi was “urgent” as IRIS Lavan had developed “technical issues”, the officials said. The warship’s 183 crew members have been accommodated at naval facilities in Kochi, they said.
Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said on Thursday his country had a “humanitarian responsibility” to take in the crew of IRIS Booshehr, which would be moved to Trincomalee harbour on the eastern coast. “We have to understand this is not an ordinary situation. It’s a request by a ship belonging to one party to enter into our port. We have to consider that according to international treaties and conventions,” he told reporters.
The sinking of IRIS Dena triggered concerns in India, Sri Lanka and other Indian Ocean states about the widening scope of the Iran-US conflict and its impact on seaborne commerce in regional waters. People familiar with the matter described the Indian government’s handling of the crisis involving Iran, with which India has civilisational ties, and the US, a crucial strategic partner, as “pragmatic and realistic” and in line with long-term national interests.
The Indian side has had to strike a careful balance in its handling of the matter, especially in the face of growing criticism from opposition parties and former diplomats and military leaders of New Delhi’s silence following the sinking of the Iranian frigate in India’s strategic backyard.
In this context, the people pointed to the one-month waiver granted by the US administration for India to continue purchases of Russian oil as part of efforts to ensure the country’s energy security against the backdrop of concerns about disruptions due to Iran effectively shutting the Strait of Hormuz, which is used to transport almost 50% of India’s oil imports.
The people also pointed out that previous US administrations had provided waivers from sanctions so that India could buy oil from Iran. This included a determination by former secretary of state Hillary Clinton in 2012 and another by former secretary of state John Kerry in 2013. Both these orders by the US officials had stated that the waivers were allowed after India “significantly reduced” its volume of crude oil purchases from Iran.
