India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has stated that India 'did the right thing' by allowing an Iranian warship, IRIS Lavan, to dock at the Kochi port despite the US and Israel's war with Tehran.
The IRIS Lavan docked at the Kochi port on March 4, the same day that a US submarine torpedoed IRIS Dena in the Indian Ocean, killing at least 87 of its crew members.
Jaishankar said India approached the situation from a humanitarian perspective, considering the legal issues. He added that the Iranian ships were coming for a fleet review but got 'caught on the wrong side of the events.'
The Sri Lankan authorities are escorting another Iranian naval ship, the Booshehr, to a harbour on the eastern coast and moving most of its crew to a navy camp near Colombo.
India received the docking request for the IRIS Lavan on February 28, the day the Iran war started, and the request was approved the next day. The IRIS Lavan has since docked at Kochi, and its crew of 183 are currently accommodated at naval facilities in Kochi.
