US sinking of Iranian warship off Sri Lankan coast piles pressure on India

The US sinking of Iran's frigate IRIS Dena near Sri Lanka brings the Middle East conflict closer to India's neighbourhood, complicating New Delhi's delicate diplomatic balancing

The US sinking of an Iranian warship off Sri Lanka’s coast expands the deepening Middle East war to India’s doorstep, unsettling New Delhi’s calibrated approach to the conflict as Iran vowed to avenge the attack. 

A US submarine sank the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena off the coast of Sri Lanka on Wednesday, with 32 sailors rescued and more than 100 missing or dead. The episode was the first time since World War II that an American submarine had attacked a surface vessel, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said.  

Iran vowed to retaliate, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi calling the attack an “atrocity” that the US “will come to bitterly regret.”  

 

The US attack took place just days after the Iranian ship had participated in a flagship Indian naval exercise at the invitation of New Delhi, alongside Indian and other foreign warships. The incident expands the geography of the conflict to an area squarely within India’s strategic neighborhood and puts the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a difficult position as it continues to avoid taking firm sides in the widening Middle East conflict.  

“The US is saying that Iranian assets anywhere in the world are a legitimate target,” said David Brewster, senior research fellow at the National Security College of Australian National University. “This would also make it easier for the Iranians to take a similar approach.”  

The US action was embarrassing to India and amounted to the war reaching a territory where India tries to project itself as the preferred security partner for smaller nations such as Sri Lanka, according to serving and retired Indian officials, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue.  

Based on the vessel’s course, these people said, it appears the Iranian crew didn’t expect hostile action, otherwise it would have sailed closer to the coast or merged with international shipping traffic where it would have been more difficult for the US submarine to strike.  

Modi’s government hasn’t directly responded to the US sinking of the naval vessel. At a joint briefing with Finland’s President Alexander Stubb on Thursday, Modi called for dialog and diplomacy to end global conflicts from Ukraine to West Asia.

“We both agree that military conflict alone cannot yield a solution to any issue,” he said. “Be it Ukraine or West Asia, we will continue to support efforts to bring a quick end to the conflict and achieve lasting peace.” 

The US Embassy in New Delhi referred questions on whether India was informed of military activities in the region to the Defense Department, which didn’t immediately respond.  

India launched an aircraft and ships to rescue Iranian sailors immediately after the vessel sent out a distress signal, Vivek Madhwal, spokesperson for the navy said late on Thursday. 

A maritime patrol aircraft and a training ship operating in the area were rushed to assist the rescue operations, he said, adding that a large survey vessel of the navy is continuing the search for “missing personnel” in coordination with the Sri Lankan naval forces. 

Exclusive Zones 

The episode highlights the increasingly expansive approach of the US’s campaign against Iran. While the sinking of the frigate occurred in international waters, it also took place within Sri Lanka’s so-called exclusive economic zone.  

Such zones are areas defined under international law that give states rights over maritime resources. While they aren’t technically part of a nation’s sovereign territory, some countries such as China and India have objected to other nations using such zones for military purposes, while the US says military activities are permitted in the zones. 

A Sri Lankan cabinet spokesman told parliament on Thursday that a second Iranian vessel was within Sri Lanka’s exclusive economic zone, and the government is making “maximum interventions” to protect lives and ensure regional security. 

The presence of a US submarine in the area raises concerns over trade routes, as well as highlighting strategic risks for India, which often conducts joint patrols with Sri Lanka in the waters. 

The incident “just demonstrates once more that navies do not fight like armies, lobbing men, machines, and ordnance across a line on the land, but engage wherever the enemy or his commerce might be found,” said Pradeep Chauhan, a retired vice admiral in India’s navy. “With China and Russia sending naval forces into the area, the situation is fraught with great risk for everyone.” 

The IRIS Dena was in India Feb. 15 to 25 to participate in the International Fleet Review, alongside vessels from 40 other countries including the US and Russia. The exercise took place in Visakhapatnam, an eastern city known for its beaches and coastal tourism, and that is the headquarters of the Indian Navy’s Eastern Naval Command, Residents of the city were left stunned by the news of the Iranian ship’s destruction, The Hindu newspaper reported Thursday. A former Indian naval official recalled that both Iran and the US had participated in the naval exercises and officers from both countries had stayed in the same hotels in the city, according to the newspaper. Sailors aboard the IRIS Dena had visited several tourist spots, including a major Hindu monument. 

A post on social media by the Eastern Naval Command during the exercise contained a photo of sailors posing atop the deck on the Iranian vessel, and hailed “long-standing cultural links between the two nations.”  

Modi Backlash 

Modi’s government is already weathering criticism at home for not explicitly condemning the US and Israeli strikes on Iran. Modi had visited Israel and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shortly before the joint US-Israeli strikes, prompting criticism from opposition figures that the visit provided tacit approval for the attacks.  

New Delhi has historical ties with Iran and had previously bought large quantities of its oil. At the same time, Modi faces precarious relations with the Trump administration after it slapped punitive 50% tariffs on Indian exports last year, before abruptly unveiling a trade deal that reduced the duties.   

India’s response to the Iran crisis shows it’s trying to balance ties with key regional actors while safeguarding citizens and preserving energy, security and investment interests, according to Bloomberg Economics.  

“The episode risks frictions with Washington and domestic embarrassment for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government,” Chetna Kumar and Adam Farrar, geoeconomics analysts for Bloomberg Economics, wrote Thursday. 

While the strike on the vessel sets an uncomfortable precedent and increases political pressure on the Indian and Sri Lankan governments over the war, “we don’t see it as an indicator that the conflict is widening to South Asia,” they said.