Responded to Iran warship distress call, joined search ops: Indian Navy
According to a Navy statement, the Navy launched its SAR efforts commencing with a long-range maritime patrol aircraft P8I at 1000 hr on Wednesday to augment the search efforts led by Sri Lanka.
A vessel sails off the Galle coast after a submarine attack on the Iranian military ship, Iris Dena, off Sri Lanka, in Galle. (REUTERS)
A day after a US submarine torpedo sank an Iranian warship near Sri Lanka as it headed home after participating in Exercise MILAN and the International Fleet Review in Visakhapatnam, the Indian Navy said Thursday it had sent its aircraft and ships to augment the search and rescue (SAR) efforts for IRIS Dena after it put out a distress call.
The Indian Navy statement came on the day the government condoled the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and others killed in air strikes by Israel and the US.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri visited the Iranian embassy in New Delhi and signed the condolence book – the first public gesture from the government ever since the assassination of the Iranian leader.
According to sources, Misri, without naming any individual, wrote in the condolence book, “Sincerest condolences on behalf of the Government and the people of India. We pray for peace for the departed souls.”
Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, said, “Foreign Secretary Shri Vikram Misri visited the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran and signed the condolence book, on behalf of the people and the Government of India, on the demise of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Syed Ali Khamenei.”
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Meanwhile, the Indian Navy, in a statement, said it launched its SAR efforts commencing with a long-range maritime patrol aircraft P8I at 1000 hours Wednesday to augment the search efforts led by Sri Lanka.
It said another aircraft with air droppable life rafts was also kept on standby for immediate deployment. Additionally, INS Tarangini ,which was operating in the vicinity, was deployed to aid the rescue efforts and arrived in the search area by 1600 hours Wednesday when the SAR had been undertaken by the Sri Lankan Navy and other agencies.
The Navy said INS Ikshak had also sailed from Kochi to augment the search efforts and continues to remain in the area to search for missing personnel as a humanitarian measure.
According to the Navy, a distress call from IRIS Dena was received at the MRCC Colombo in the early hours of Wednesday. The ship, it said, was operating 20 NM (nautical miles) west of Galle in the SAR region under Sri Lankan responsibility.
Amrita Nayak Dutta writes on defence and national security as part of the national bureau of The Indian Express. In the past, Amrita has extensively reported on the media industry and broadcasting matters, urban affairs, bureaucracy and government policies. In the last 14 years of her career, she has worked in newspapers as well as in the online media space and is well versed with the functioning of both newsrooms. Amrita has worked in the northeast, Mumbai and Delhi. She has travelled extensively across the country, including in far-flung border areas, to bring detailed reports from the ground and has written investigative reports on media and defence. She has been working for The Indian Express since January 2023. ... Read More
Shubhajit Roy, Diplomatic Editor at The Indian Express, has been a journalist for more than 25 years now. Roy joined The Indian Express in October 2003 and has been reporting on foreign affairs for more than 17 years now. Based in Delhi, he has also led the National government and political bureau at The Indian Express in Delhi — a team of reporters who cover the national government and politics for the newspaper. He has got the Ramnath Goenka Journalism award for Excellence in Journalism ‘2016. He got this award for his coverage of the Holey Bakery attack in Dhaka and its aftermath. He also got the IIMCAA Award for the Journalist of the Year, 2022, (Jury’s special mention) for his coverage of the fall of Kabul in August 2021 — he was one of the few Indian journalists in Kabul and the only mainstream newspaper to have covered the Taliban’s capture of power in mid-August, 2021. ... Read More
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A vessel sails off the Galle coast after a submarine attack on the Iranian military ship, Iris Dena, off Sri Lanka, in Galle. (REUTERS) 
