How US sinking of Iranian warship blew hole in Modi’s ‘guardian’ claims

Features | Israel-Iran conflict How US sinking of Iranian warship blew hole in Modi’s ‘guardian’ claims India sees itself a security provider in the Indian Ocean. On Wednesday, it couldn’t save even its own guest. Listen to this article | 9 mins By Yashraj Sharma Published On 6 Mar 2026 6 Mar 2026 Click here to share on social media Share Save Add Al Jazeera on Google New Delhi, India — Dressed in a blue Navy uniform and sleek sunglasses, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in late October, addressed a gathering of the country’s sea warriors. He listed out the strategic significance of the Indian Ocean — the massive volumes of trade and oil that pass through it. “The Indian Navy is the guardian of the Indian Ocean,” he then said, to loud, proud chants of “Long Live Mother India” from his audience. Less than five months later, India has been shown up as a “guardian”, unable to protect its own guest. On Wednesday, the Iranian warship, IRIS Dena, was torpedoed by a US submarine just 44 nautical miles off (81km) southern Sri Lanka, as it was returning home from naval drills hosted by India. During the “Milan” biennial multilateral naval exercise, Indian President Droupadi Murmu had posed with sailors from the Dena. Yet it took the Indian Navy more than a day after the Iranian warship was struck to respond formally to the attack, which US officials made clear was a sign of how the Donald Trump administration was willing and ready to expand its war against Iran. “An American submarine sank an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters,” US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said at the Pentagon on Wednesday. “Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo. Quiet death.” Tehran is furious over the attack on its warship hundreds of miles away from home. And Iran made sure to note that the IRIS Dena warship was “a guest of India’s navy”, returning after completing the exercise it joined upon New Delhi’s invitation. Advertisement “The US has perpetrated an atrocity at s...