Iranian warship IRIS Dena (File pic)

India came to the rescue of Iranian warship IRIS Dena after receiving a distress call while operating in the SAR region under Sri Lanka ,said the Indian Navy on Thursday. The navy further revealed that it’s still assisiting in search and rescue in coordination with the Sri Lankan Police.“A distress call from IRIS Dena was received at the MRCC Colombo in the early hours of 04 March 26 as reported by the Sri Lankan Navy. The ship was operating 20 NM West of Galle in the SAR region under Sri Lankan responsibility. On receipt of the information, the Indian Navy promptly launched its SAR efforts commencing with a long-range maritime patrol aircraft at 1000 hr on 04 March 26 to augment the search efforts led by Sri Lanka,” it said in a statement.Further revealing details it added, “Another aircraft with air droppable life rafts was also kept standby for immediate deployment. INS Tarangini which was operating in vicinity was deployed for aiding the rescue efforts and arrived in search area by 1600 hr on 04 March 26. By this time, SAR had been undertaken by Sri Lankan Navy and other agencies. INS Ikshak has also sailed from Kochi to augment the search efforts and continues to remain in the area to search for missing personnel as a humanitarian measure for ship wrecked personnel. Coordination with the Sri Lankan side on Search and Rescue efforts is ongoing.”The US Navy sank the Iranian warship that was returning from the Milan naval exercise, a multilateral drill hosted by India. The strike in the Indian Ocean reportedly left at least 80 sailors dead and came amid a broader wave of US and Israeli operations targeting Iran.