ISLAMABAD: New Delhi is facing mounting scrutiny after a United States submarine torpedoed Iran’s frigate IRIS Dena near Sri Lanka, days after the vessel participated as a guest in India’s biennial multinational naval exercise, MILAN 2026.
The Iranian warship had taken part in the Indian Navy–hosted exercise in the Bay of Bengal from February 18 to 25, where it was formally received by India’s Eastern Naval Command. The vessel was later struck in international waters as it sailed westward toward the Indian Ocean.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed the strike, saying, “An American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters.” He described the attack as part of ongoing US military operations against Iran.
Sri Lanka swiftly mounted a rescue operation, deploying naval vessels and aircraft. Authorities recovered 32 crew members alive, while 148 sailors remain missing. Colombo has also confirmed the recovery of dozens of bodies as search efforts continue.
New Delhi, however, has issued no official public response, drawing criticism from analysts and opposition figures.
Strategic affairs expert Brahma Chellaney called the incident “a strategic embarrassment for New Delhi,” saying the US attack on a naval guest raised “uncomfortable questions about India’s authority in its own backyard.”
He added that the strike “violated the unwritten code of naval hospitality” and sent a troubling signal that “attending India’s exercises may not guarantee safety once [ships] sail away.”
Opposition leaders echoed the criticism. Indian National Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera asked whether India had lost influence in its immediate region, writing that the strategic space may have been “quietly ceded to Washington and Tel Aviv.”
Another party official, Sumit Dubey, urged the government to assert itself, saying, “Strategic autonomy means principle, not silence.”
The silence has also been criticized previously within India over regional developments.
Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi wrote that New Delhi’s lack of response to the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei amounted to “abdication, not neutrality.” Her son, opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, publicly pressed Prime Minister Narendra Modi to clarify India’s position.
“Does he support the assassination of a head of state as a way to define the world order?” Rahul Gandhi asked. “Silence now diminishes India’s standing in the world.”
As regional tensions escalate, critics say India’s continued silence risks undermining its claims of strategic autonomy and leadership in the Indian Ocean.
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