New Delhi, March 5: Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Thursday criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi for remaining silent after a US submarine sank the Iranian warship IRIS Dena near Sri Lanka. The vessel was returning from the International Fleet Review 2026 (IFR) and MILAN 2026 exercises in Visakhapatnam.
In a post on X, Rahul Gandhi said the West Asia conflict has now “reached India’s backyard” and accused PM Modi of “surrendering India’s strategic autonomy” at a time when the country needs a “steady hand at the wheel.”
“The conflict has reached our backyard, with an Iranian warship sunk in the Indian Ocean. Yet the Prime Minister has said nothing. At a moment like this, we need a steady hand at the wheel. Instead, India has a compromised PM who has surrendered our strategic autonomy,” he wrote.
He also raised concerns over India’s oil security due to tensions in the Gulf:
“India’s oil supplies are under threat, with over 40% of imports transiting the Strait of Hormuz. The situation is even worse for LPG and LNG,” Gandhi added.
Former Indian Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibbal highlighted that the IRIS Dena had visited India on invitation for the IFR and MILAN exercises, noting that the US attack “ignored India’s sensitivities.”
“The Iranian ship was invited to participate in MILAN 2026 and had no ammunition on board. It was defenceless. Its personnel even paraded before our President. The US was aware of the ship’s presence but carried out a premeditated attack,” Sibbal said on X.
Sibbal emphasized that India’s responsibility is moral rather than political or military, and suggested that a formal word of condolence by the Indian Navy would have been appropriate.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi warned that the United States will “bitterly regret” its actions. In a post on X, he said:
“The US has perpetrated an atrocity at sea, 2,000 miles away from Iran’s shores. Frigate Dena, a guest of India’s Navy carrying almost 130 sailors, was struck in international waters without warning. Mark my words: The US will come to bitterly regret the precedent it has set.”
The comments came after US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth confirmed that an American submarine had sunk the IRIS Dena.
