India's greater capability, own interest warrant helping in difficult situations: EAM Jaishankar

Mumbai: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday said India's greater capability, its own interest and reputation today warrant that it actually helps in difficult situations, in reference to the Indian Navy's deployment of warships in the Red Sea region to deal with attacks on merchant navy vessels.

The Indian Navy has deployed 10 of its ships in the region, Jaishankar said responding to a question during an interaction with students at the Indian Institute of Management Mumbai.

"India's greater capability, our own interest and our reputation today warrant that we actually help out in difficult situations," he said.

Jaishankar said there is a problem of piracy as well as drone attacks on merchant navy ships in the Red Sea region.

"We will not be considered a responsible country if bad things are happening around our neighbourhood and we say I have got nothing to do with this. When you are in trouble, the neighbourhood will say the same," he said.

Jaishankar said that in the last 10 years, India has developed a very powerful narrative and pointed to the naval deployment in the Red Sea region.

In this context, he also referred to India's response to earthquakes in Turkiye and its assistance to various other countries, including providing vaccines during COVID-19.

"It wasn't just a vaccine. We actually sent out doctors, including military doctors, to many countries in the Indian Ocean (during the COVID-19 pandemic), so that is where I make the connection with Ramayana," he said.

Asked whether India should "kinetically act" like the US and the UK to attacks, a reference to the counter-attacks launched by these two countries on the Houthi rebels in Yemen, Jaishankar said some countries made that choice.

"At the moment, our choice today is to contribute to the safety and security. We are doing a lot of non-kinetic contributions out there but independently, because at the end of the day, we are an independent country," he said.

Notably, Indian warship INS Sumitra rescued 19 Pakistani crew of a fishing vessel after their Iranian-flagged fishing vessel was attacked by pirates on the east coast of Somalia, officials said on Tuesday.

INS Sumitra has been deployed for anti-piracy and maritime security operations in the east of Somalia and the Gulf of Aden.

The ship had thwarted a piracy attempt on the Iranian fishing vessel Iman on Monday.

Last week, the Indian Navy contained a fire onboard MV Marlin Luanda, a commercial container oil tanker with 22 Indian crew in the Gulf of Aden, swiftly responding to a distress call from the vessel after it was struck by a missile on the key shipping route that witnessed similar attacks earlier.

Since the rise in attacks on merchant navy vessels in the Red Sea, the Indian Navy has intensified its deployment in the region.