History’s first incident that was held in the Indian Ocean was the Gale Incident. Where many of the people got lost, and still they are not found yet. Was it a mistake or a pre-planned conspiracy? Nobody could find it. This incident occurred on 4th March 2026, when all nations were returning to their countries after participating in the multinational naval exercise MILAN. India hosted this exercise in Visakhapatnam, and finally it was the day when they were called to leave after this successful exercise, but the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena was sunk in a torpedo attack while transiting through international waters off the coast of Sri Lanka. Whereas none of the nations officially claimed their mistake first, this event was marked as the nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN).
The attack exhibited a clinical nature, employing a silent approach and resulting in a single underwater explosion that caused the ship to sink instantly. Whereas the Sri Lankan authorities kept at the moment in saving their dozens of people with a smaller quantity of sailors, many were missing at the spot, and still they have not been found yet. Despite the tragedy, both India and Sri Lanka were engaged in humanitarian efforts. Sri Lanka led the initial rescue operation, and India deployed naval assets like INS Tarangini and maritime patrol aircraft to assist in the search for survivors. Whereas another Iranian IRIS Lavan was handed over to Iran for its logistics and technical support.
After the great debate, the U.S. defence secretary Pete Hegseth declared that the U.S. was responsible for this event after naming it as a border military operation against Iran, but the question arises: was it a pre-planned conspiracy or a mistake held by the U.S.? The Indian Ocean was the pinned point where they wanted Iran to see how weak their naval assets were. Their subsequent acceptance with an excuse they named as a border military operation makes us realise that it was actually a pre-planned conspiracy of the U.S. against Iran.
Sri Lanka, on the other hand, is suspected along with India, but we saw how Sri Lanka was involved in helping the humanitarians and in finding their lost ones with the help of India, as India provided a safe harbour to another Iranian vessel, IRIS Lavan, for technical and logistical support. For this, the U.S. represents the strategy of high-seas neutralisation, showing how they eliminated Iranian naval power in deep seas, avoiding the complexities of striking in crowded gulfs.
It shows how the nations were kept in a difficult situation; Sri Lanka lost many of its sailors, and many of the people were left injured, while a few seemed safe. It shows how Iranian navy assets sank in the Indian Ocean and, afterwards, how the U.S. and Israel depict it as an operation or a little try to destroy Iran. The questions still flow, but the answers disappear.