New Delhi: Amid mounting criticism over the refusal to let the IRIS Dena dock at the Sri Lankan port prior to the Iranian frigate’s sinking on 4 March, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake told Parliament Friday that Sri Lanka had turned down requests from not just Iran but also the US. “That’s impartiality”, he said.
Seeking to rebut criticism over the 11-hour delay in docking permission to three Iranian naval vessels, Dissanayake said Colombo had also refused permission to two US fighter jets to land at Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport.
“We received the request on February 26 for the 3 Iranian vessels to call at port on a goodwill visit between March 9 and 13. On the same evening, the US requested permission for two of its warplanes near Djibouti to land at Mattala airport,” he said.
“So there were two pieces of paper on our desk; one asked for permission for the Iranian vessels to call at port between March 9-13, the other from the US asking to allow 2 naval warplanes to land at Mattala. What should we have done? As a neutral nation we said no to both. That’s impartiality,” he added.
He said the US wanted to bring in two warplanes armed with eight anti-ship missiles from their base in Djibouti to Mattala International Airport but “Sri Lanka said no”.
“Certain parties are saying that we have signed agreements with the US, and that’s why we delayed entertaining the Iranian vessel. It was said in Parliament that an 11-hour delay on our part sacrificed the Iranian vessel. That’s outrageous, inhumane,” local reports quoted him as saying in Parliament.
The remarks came after Dissanayake met US envoy Sergio Gor, who is visiting the region for high-level talks on maritime security and economic cooperation in the Indian Ocean.
At least 87 sailors were killed after IRIS Dena was torpedoed by a US submarine, which brought the expanding conflict into waters close to Sri Lankan shores.
Opposition leaders and former military officials questioned why Sri Lanka did not respond sooner to Dena’s request to dock at Galle port in the hours before it was struck. Some have argued that an 11-hour delay in granting permission may have left the vessel exposed.
In the aftermath of the attack, Sri Lanka allowed another Iranian vessel, IRIS Bushehr, to dock on 4 March, amid concerns that it could also be targeted. More than 200 crew members from the ship have since been accommodated at a naval facility in Sri Lanka.
According to a US State Department cable reported by Reuters, American officials have urged Sri Lanka not to repatriate survivors from the Dena or the crew of the Bushehr, adding to the diplomatic pressure on Colombo.
Days before it was sunk, the IRIS Dena had docked in Visakhapatnam as part of the Indian Navy’s multinational exercise MILAN. The Indian Ocean is key to global trade and energy and is important for the US to secure as tensions with Iran escalate.
Gor’s visit, according to the US State Department, is for “high-level engagements focused on advancing cooperation in the Indian Ocean region”.
“Special envoy Gor’s meetings will further support US efforts to safeguard vital sea lanes and secure ports, reinforce mutually beneficial trade and commercial ties, and advance a free, open, and prosperous Indo-Pacific for the benefit of both our peoples (Sri Lanka and US),” the statement read.
The envoy is also scheduled to travel to the Maldives, where he will meet senior officials to mark 60 years of diplomatic relations and explore cooperation on infrastructure development, economic growth and regional security.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)