India, March 6 -- The Indian Navy on Thursday said it joined the search and rescue operation after learning about a distress call from the Iranian warship IRIS Dena, which went down off the coast of Sri Lanka after being hit by a torpedo fired by a US submarine.

The Iranian warship was returning home after participating in the Milan multilateral naval exercise hosted by India. At least 87 Iranian sailors were killed in the attack, according to Sri Lankan authorities.

In a statement, the Indian Navy said it promptly launched its search and rescue (SAR) efforts with a long-range maritime patrol aircraft at 10 am on Wednesday to augment the rescue operations led by Sri Lanka. "Another aircraft with air-droppable life rafts was also kept on...