PM Modi with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran on 23 May 2016.
Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday sharply criticised the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led authorities for its silence over the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, calling it an ‘abdication’ moderately than neutrality.In an opinion piece printed in The Indian Express, Sonia Gandhi stated India’s lack of a transparent response to the killing “signals tacit endorsement of this tragedy.”
Referring to Iran’s affirmation on March 1 that Ayatollah Khamenei was killed in focused strikes allegedly carried out by the United States and Israel a day earlier, Gandhi described the assassination of a sitting head of state throughout ongoing negotiations as a “grave rupture in contemporary international relations.”“Beyond the shock of the event, what stands out equally starkly is New Delhi’s silence,” she wrote.She criticised the Prime Minister for initially condemning solely Iran’s retaliatory strike on the United Arab Emirates, with out addressing the sequence of occasions that led to the escalation. According to Gandhi, later remarks expressing “deep concern” and calling for “dialogue and diplomacy” have been insufficient, as diplomatic engagement had been beneath means earlier than what she termed “massive unprovoked attacks” by the US and Israel.She argued that India’s failure to obviously defend sovereignty and worldwide regulation within the wake of a focused killing raises “serious doubts” concerning the credibility and route of its overseas coverage.She additionally pointed to the timing of PM Modi’s latest go to to Israel, the place he reiterated assist for the federal government of Benjamin Netanyahu, even because the battle in Gaza continues to attract international criticism over civilian casualties.“The unease is compounded by the timing,” she wrote, noting that PM Modi had returned from Israel barely 48 hours earlier than the assassination. She described India’s stance as a “high-profile political endorsement without moral clarity,” notably when a number of nations within the Global South and BRICS companions comparable to Russia and China have maintained distance.Gandhi additional demanded a dialogue in Parliament throughout the second half of the Budget Session on what she termed the federal government’s “disturbing silence.”On Saturday, US and Israeli forces carried out coordinated airstrikes throughout a number of Iranian cities, focusing on army command centres, air-defence programs, missile websites and different strategic infrastructure. The strikes reportedly resulted within the demise of Ayatollah Khamenei and 4 senior Iranian army and safety officers, with giant explosions reported in Tehran and different cities.In retaliation, Iran launched ballistic missiles and drones focusing on US property and allied nations within the area, together with Israel, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan. The developments have considerably escalated tensions within the Middle East, elevating issues for regional stability and civilian security.
