New Delhi : Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Thursday again cornered Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing him of "silence" after a US submarine sank the Iranian warship "IRIS Dena" near Sri Lanka.
The ship was returning after participating in the International Fleet Review 2026 (IFR) and MILAN 2026 in Visakhapatnam. In a post on X, Rahul Gandhi said that the West Asia conflict has reached India's backyard and accused PM Modi of "surrendering India's strategic autonomy" 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 said.
He also raised concerns over India's oil supplies being under threat due to tensions in the Gulf region. "India's oil supplies are under threat, with more than 40% of our imports transiting the Strait of Hormuz. The situation is even worse for LPG and LNG," he said.
Former Indian Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibbal said that the 'IRIS Dena' had joined the International Fleet Review 2026 (IFR) and MILAN 2026 on India's invitation, adding that the US attack "ignored India's sensitivities".
"The Iranian ship will not be where it was if we had not invited it to talk part in our Milan exercise. We were the hosts. I am told that as per protocol for this exercise ships cannot carry any ammunition. It was defenceless. The Iranian naval personnel had paraded before our president . The attack by the US submarine was premeditated as the US was aware of the Iranian ship's presence in the exercise to which the US navy was invited but withdrew from participation at the last minute, presumably with this operation in mind," he said in a post on X.
"The US has ignored India's sensitivities as the ship was in these waters because of India's invitation. We are far from politically or militarily responsible for the US attack. Our"responsibility" is at a moral and human plane. A word of condolence by the Indian Navy ( after political clearance) at the loss of lives of those who were our invitees and saluted our president would be in order," he added.
Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said that the United States will come to regret its action of destroying the Iranian vessel IRIS Dena with a torpedo hit in the Indian Ocean.
In a post on X, Araghchi 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 precedent it has set."
Araghchi's comment follows the confirmation on Wednesday by United States Secretary of War Pete Hegseth that an US submarine had sunk the Iranian warship "IRIS Dena". Around 180 people were onboard at the Iranian ship. Sri Lanka's navy said it recovered 87 bodies and rescued 32 people, who were admitted to a hospital in Galle, on the south of the island, Euro News reported.