New Delhi, March 14 India has repatriated the non-essential crew members of an Iranian warship that docked in Kochi on March 4 amid the escalating military conflict between Iran and the US.
Over 50 of the 183 crew members remain in Kochi, according to sources familiar with the matter.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that the non-essential crew members of the ship, along with several stranded Iranian nationals, left India on board a chartered flight arranged by Tehran.
The sailors left India on a Turkish airline aircraft. The aircraft landed in Kochi late last night after picking up the bodies from Colombo of over 80 Iranian sailors from another warship that was sunk by the US submarine off the coast of Sri Lanka on March 4.
The Iranian ship, IRIS Lavan, remains in Kochi since March 4. The ship had developed urgent technical issues and was granted emergency docking approval on March 1 following a request from the Iranian side.
It is learnt that the Iranian sailors of IRIS Lavan will travel to Iran by road from Yerevan, the capital city of Armenia.
The repatriation of the crew members comes as New Delhi makes efforts to ensure safe passage for over two dozen Indian-flagged merchant vessels currently stationed on either side of the Strait of Hormuz.
"Due to the widespread flight disruptions caused by the conflict (in West Asia), several Iranian nationals were stranded in India. The Iranian authorities arranged a chartered flight to take back these stranded nationals, including Iranian nationals visiting India as tourists," Jaiswal said at a media briefing.
"The flight took off from Kochi last night. The passengers also included the non-essential crew of IRIS Lavan, which remains docked in Kochi," he said.