India has repatriated the non-essential crew members of an Iranian warship that docked in Kochi earlier this month as tensions between Iran and the United States escalated, according to people familiar with the matter.
The warship, IRIS Lavan, arrived in Kochi on March 4 after developing urgent technical issues. Following a request from the Iranian side, Indian authorities granted emergency docking approval on March 1.
Over 50 of the 183 crew members have stayed back as the ship, IRIS Lavan, remains in Kochi, they said.
The non-essential sailors left India by a Turkish airline aircraft. The aircraft landed in Kochi late last night after picking up the bodies from Colombo of over 80 Iranian sailors of another warship that was sunk by a US submarine off the coast of Sri Lanka on March 4.
IRIS Lavan has remained in Kochi since March 4.
It is learnt that the Iranian sailors of IRIS Lavan will travel to Iran by road from Yerevan, Armenia's capital city.
The repatriation comes as New Delhi works to ensure safe passage for more than two dozen Indian-flagged merchant vessels currently positioned on either side of the Strait of Hormuz, a key global shipping route.
Meanwhile, S. Jaishankar spoke to his Iranian counterpart Seyed Abbas Araghchi on Thursday night in the fourth such conversation since the West Asia crisis erupted.