India’s Cowardly Silence Exposes Its Hollow Claims of Indian Ocean Dominance

The US has once again demonstrated who really calls the shots in what the Indians delusionally call their “own backyard.” On March 4, 2026, a US submarine launched a Mark 48 torpedo into the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena, sinking the vessel in international waters 40 nautical miles off the coast of Galle in Sri Lanka, about 300 km from the Indian Kanyakumari. The vessel, which had been on a goodwill tour and was taking part in the Indian MILAN 2026 naval exercises, had 180 sailors on board. At least 87 young Iranian lives were lost. Only 32 survivors were rescued by Sri Lankan forces; dozens remain missing. Iran lost a vessel 2,000 km from its shores, attacked without warning in waters India claims to patrol with swagger.

Iran’s response has been measured and firm. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi rightly called it an “atrocity at sea,” tweeting that the US attacked a warship “visiting India as part of a goodwill mission” and warning that Washington “will bitterly regret the precedent it has set.” Tehran framed the Dena not as an aggressor but as a guest in the region, facts no one disputes. The Iranian mission in New Delhi even opened a condolence book under a portrait of Supreme Leader Khamenei, where Russia’s envoy was among the first to sign. Iran’s grief is understandable as these were young sailors who had paraded in India just days earlier, treated as honored guests before being sent to the bottom of the ocean by American torpedoes.

And India’s reaction? Deafening, shameful silence.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the self-proclaimed “guardian” of the Indian Ocean, had nothing to say. While the US openly celebrated the strike, releasing periscope footage and labeling the Dena a “prize ship”, Modi was busy thanking the French president for Holi greetings. No statement of concern. No condolences for the dead Iranian sailors who had recently docked in Indian ports. No protest against this violation of maritime norms so close to Indian waters. Even as Congress Leaders expressed surprise at the lack of an official word, and Rahul Gandhi slammed the “compromised” leadership for surrendering “strategic autonomy,” Modi’s government issued nothing beyond lame fact-checks on unrelated social media rumors.

This is not leadership; it is capitulation. India loves to lecture the world about its “multi-alignment” and “strategic autonomy.” Yet when a guest warship, fresh from Indian-hosted drills, is torpedoed near its borders, New Delhi freezes like a vassal state. Forty percent of India’s oil imports pass through the Strait of Hormuz; LPG and LNG supplies are even more vulnerable. The battle has literally reached India’s doorstep, yet the Modi regime offers platitudes instead of a firm hand on the wheel. Analysts across Indian media are asking the obvious that if France faced such an attack in its waters, would Macron stay mute? Of course not, but India? It retreats, terrified.

The precedent is dangerous, as Iran’s foreign minister noted. The US has expanded its war with Iran into the Indian Ocean without a second thought, puncturing India’s soft-power fantasies with a single torpedo. New Delhi’s much-hyped naval prowess, its “dominant power” rhetoric in the region, and its endless chest-thumping about anti-piracy operations have all been exposed as hollow. A warship treated as India’s guest is attacked, and India cannot even muster basic human sympathy, let alone strategic outrage.

In stark contrast, we have the example of Pakistan, a country that has consistently demonstrated a commitment to a foreign policy of principle, sovereignty, and regional dignity. Islamabad has consistently shown the spine to put its own interests and regional stability first, unlike New Delhi, which is compromised by its compromising foreign policy. This latest incident does not simply show how India’s foreign policy is being undermined, but also how Islamabad is the more reliable and assertive advocate of South Asian and Islamic world interests.

The young Iranian sailors deserved so much more from their recent host. The Indian Ocean deserves so much more from a leader who is so compromised, so compromised that it cannot even speak up. Pakistan is watching, and so is the rest of the region.