'Right Thing To Do' - EAM Jaishankar Tells Parliament India Allowed Iranian Ship IRIS Lavan To Dock In Kochi

(MENAFN- Live Mint) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday addressed India allowing the docking of Iranian navy ship IRIS Lavan in Kochi, telling Parliament that the decision was taken on humanitarian grounds, and was the correct thing to do.

In his statement on the situation in the Middle East, delivered to both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha, Jaishankar said, “The House will also be interested in the issue of an Iranian vessel currently docked in Kochi.”

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Explaining the sequence of events, Jaishankar said that the Iran had sought India’s permission for the docking of three ships on 28 February, when the US and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran.

“This [docking permission] was accorded on 1 March,” Jaishankar said, adding that the IRIS Lavan docked in Kochi on 4 March, where it currently remains.

Adding that the crew of the Iranian ship - reportedly 183 personnel - was currently in Indian Navy facilities, Jaishankar said, “We believe that this was the right thing to do, and the Iranian Foreign Minister has expressed his country’s thanks for this humane gesture.”

The EAM’s comments come a couple of days after Iranian Ambassador to India Mohammed Fathali told ANI that he was thankful to India for the shelter provided to IRIS Lavan.

Speaking about the sinking of IRIS Dena by US forces, the Ambassador said,“In this context, another Iranian naval vessel, IRIS Lavan, has docked in the port of Kochi to carry out technical and logistical arrangements.”

“I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank the Government of India and local authorities for their cooperation and humanitarian approach in facilitating the docking of this vessel and supporting its crew,” the Iranian Ambassador added.

Jaishankar’s comments to Parliament also echo what the minister had said days ago at the Raisina Dialogue in Delhi.

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Speaking in the national capital on Saturday, Jaishankar had laid out the facts of Iranian ships docking in India.

“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 (February); and on the 1st (March), we said, ‘okay, you can come in’,” the EAM had 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,” Jaishankar had added.

His comments at the Raisina Dialogue came days after American forces torpedoed the Iranian navy’s IRIS Dena off the coast of Sri Lanka, killing at least 83 of its crew.

On 4 March, the Los Angeles-class submarine USS Charlotte of the US Navy struck the ill-fated ship in international waters near the southern coast of Sri Lanka, making the IRIS Dena the first ship to be sunk in active combat by a submarine since 1982.

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