Congress stalwart Sonia Gandhi unleashed a fierce broadside against the government’s conspicuous silence following the shocking assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israel airstrikes. ‘This is no neutrality—it’s irresponsibility incarnate,’ she declared from New Delhi, spotlighting a foreign policy lapse.
The brazen act, bypassing war protocols and diplomatic talks, violates core UN tenets against aggressive force. India’s aversion to denounce Iran’s sovereignty breach or the murder itself undermines its stature.
Gandhi zeroed in on PM Modi’s commentary: overlooking initial devastations to chide only Iran’s UAE retaliation, then issuing perfunctory worry and dialogue calls post-assassination—a sequence exposing inconsistency.
When a nation skips defending international law on a foreign leader’s killing, its policy compass and reliability come under fire, she warned.
Lashing out at PM’s blanket endorsement of Netanyahu’s Gaza tactics, Gandhi decried the absence of ethical footing, marking a stark deviation.
Reiterating Congress’s denunciation, she termed it a reckless move portending catastrophe. Historical nods included Iran’s 1994 Kashmir aid at UNHRC, Zahedan diplomacy countering CPEC-Gwadar, and Vajpayee’s 2001 Tehran bonds.
India’s Israel partnerships in defense and beyond offer mediation capital with both sides, contingent on perceived impartiality grounded in values, not vested interests.
Amid Gulf attacks on Indians, Gandhi stressed safeguarding citizens demands perceived independence. Concluding, she implored restoring India’s voice as a principled power broker.