Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday said the Union government’s silence on the targeted ‘assassination’ of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was not a neutral stand but an abdication, and that it raises serious doubts about the direction and credibility of India’s foreign policy.
The former congress president also demanded that, when Parliament reconvenes for the second part of the Budget session later this month, the government’s “disturbing silence” over the breakdown of the international order be debated openly and without evasion.
In her article published in The Indian Express, Gandhi said there is an urgent need for “us to rediscover” the moral strength and articulate it with clarity and commitment.
“On March 1, Iran confirmed that its Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Hosseini Khamenei, had been assassinated in targeted strikes carried out the previous day by the United States and Israel. The killing of a sitting head of state in the midst of ongoing negotiations marks a grave rupture in contemporary international relations,” Gandhi said.
Yet, beyond the shock of the event, what stands out equally starkly is New Delhi’s silence, she said.
The Government of India has refrained from condemning the assassination or the violation of Iranian sovereignty, she noted.
‘Initially, ignoring the massive US-Israeli onslaught, the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) confined himself to condemning Iran’s retaliatory strike on the UAE without addressing the sequence of events that preceded it. Later, he uttered platitudes about his ‘deep concern’ and talked of ‘dialogue and diplomacy’ — which is precisely what was underway before the massive unprovoked attacks launched by Israel and the US,” Gandhi said.
Govt’s response to the US-Iran war?
On Monday, speaking alongside Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in New Delhi, PM Modi express concern over the escalating conflicts globally and said India has always supported peace and stability and believes that disputes must be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Modi spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and strongly criticized the Iranian attacks. On Monday, PM Modi said he spoke with the Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, and the Saudi Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman and condemned the attacks on both these countries by Iran
But PM Modi or any of his cabinet colleagues have not issued a statement on Khamenei’s death until this report was filed.
“When the targeted killing of a foreign leader draws no clear defense of sovereignty or international law from our country and impartiality is abandoned, it raises serious doubts about the direction and credibility of our foreign policy,” Gandhi said in her article.
Silence, in this instance, is not neutral, she asserted.
Gandhi pointed out that the assassination was carried out without a formal declaration of war and during an ongoing diplomatic process.
“Article 2 (4) of the United Nations Charter prohibits the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state. A targeted killing of a serving head of state strikes at the heart of these principles,” she said.
Modi was in Israel last month
If such acts pass without principled objection from the world’s largest democracy, the erosion of international norms becomes easier to normalize, she argued.
“The discomfort is compounded by the timing. Barely 48 hours before the assassination, the Prime Minister returned from a visit to Israel, where he reiterated unambiguous support for the government of Benjamin Netanyahu, even as the Gaza conflict continues to draw global outrage over the scale of civilian casualties, many of them women and children,” Gandhi said.
PM Modi was in Israel on a state visit on 25-26 February. At a time when much of the Global South, along with major powers and India’s BRICS partners such as Russia and China, have kept their distance, India’s high-profile political endorsement without moral clarity marks a visible and troubling departure, the former Congress president said.
“The consequences of this event extend beyond geopolitics. The ripples of this tragedy are visible across continents. And India’s stance is signaling tacit endorsement of this tragedy,” she claimed.
Gandhi pointed out that the Congress has unequivocally condemned the bombings and targeted assassinations on Iranian soil, describing them as a dangerous escalation with grave regional and global consequences.
The Vajpayee example
The present government would do well to remember that in April 2001, the then prime minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, during an official visit to Tehran, warmly reaffirmed India’s deep ties with Iran, both civilizational and contemporary, Gandhi said.
“His (Vajpayee’s) acknowledgment of those long-standing relations seems to hold no relevance for our current government,” she said.
The 1998–2004 period under Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee as Prime Minister is often called the “Golden Age” of India-Iran relations.
Vajpayee visited Iran and signed the Tehran Declaration in 2001. Iranian President Mohammad Khatami was the Chief Guest at Republic Day 2003and the New Delhi Declaration was signed, which paved the way for Chabahar Port and energy cooperation under PM Vajpayee.
Gandhi noted that India’s ties with Israel have, in recent years, expanded across defence, agriculture and technology. She said it is precisely because India maintains relations with both Tehran and Tel Aviv that it possesses diplomatic space to urge restraint.
But such space depends on credibility, she said, adding that credibility, in turn, rests on the perception that India speaks from principle rather than expediency.
“This is not merely a moral proposition; it is a strategic necessity. Nearly 10 million Indians live and work across the Gulf. In past crises – from the Gulf War to Yemen to Iraq and Syria – India’s ability to safeguard its citizens has rested on its credibility as an independent actor, not as a proxy,” she argued.
Khamenei was killed in a major attack by Israel and the US in the early hours of Saturday. In strikes on Iran launched by the United States and Israel. Iran is associated with attacks on US and Israeli bases in its neighboring Muslim countries and Israel.
Key Takeaways
- India’s silence on Khamenei’s assassination raises concerns about its foreign policy credibility, Sonia said.
- The targeted killing of a foreign leader undermines international norms and principles, she said.
- Sonia Gandhi calls for a parliamentary debate to address the government’s stance on international conflicts.
