Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel earlier this week was “shameful”, “ill-timed” and created a “perception of political endorsement of military escalation”, said Congress on Saturday, hours after the Israeli and United States militaries attacked Iran.
The Israeli military described its attack on Iran earlier in the day as a “preventive strike”. An hour after the strikes, United States President Donald Trump said that the US military was also involved in the attack.
However, it was unclear what role the US military had played in the attacks on Saturday.
The strikes came two days after Modi wrapped up his visit to Israel.
On Wednesday, the prime minister said in the Israeli Parliament that New Delhi stood with Israel “firmly, with full conviction, in this moment and beyond”. He made the comments while expressing India’s condolences for the deaths of 1,200 persons, mostly Israelis, during the attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023.
“We feel your pain” and “share your grief”, Modi told the Knesset.
On Saturday, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh criticised the timing of Modi’s visit to Israel, saying that Tel Aviv and Washington had “begun their joint assault on Iran” two days after it.
“This was fully expected given their military build-up in the last few months,” Ramesh said on social media. “Mr Modi nevertheless chose to go to Israel, where he displayed the highest moral cowardice. He declared that India stood with Israel and got himself an award for saying so.”
The Rajya Sabha MP added that the visit was “shameful and it is even more so in light of the war that has been launched by two of Mr Modi’s ‘good friends’ [referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump]”.
The Congress’ Foreign Affairs Department stated that it was “deeply concerned” about Modi’s visit to Israel at a “moment of heightened tensions, a breakout of hostilities…and the palpable risk of wider conflict in West Asia.”
It added that the Indian prime minister’s visit created the “perception of political endorsement of military escalation”, adding that such “partisan alignment and tacit endorsement of unprovoked aggression” risks compromising India’s calibrated position.
The Opposition party added that this would have grave strategic consequences for the country.
“The Bharatiya Janata Party government needs to be mindful that India has civilisational, economic, energy, geopolitical and diasporic ties not only with Israel, but also with Iran, Palestine, and the wider region,” it said.
It added that “to preserve both moral authority and strategic credibility, India must apply – uniformly and without exception – the very principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and peaceful resolution of disputes” it has consistently invoked in the defence of its own national interests.
The Congress also said that the visit risked conveying endorsement of an incumbent government ahead of its national elections. Israel is set to go to the polls later this year.
“It is imperative that Prime Minister Modi understand that relationships are between nations, not between individual leaders or ideologically aligned political parties,” read the statement.
The speech on Wednesday by Modi came during the Indian prime minister’s first visit to Israel since Hamas’ October 2023 incursion into southern Israel and the Israeli military offensive in Gaza.
Israel has been carrying out unprecedented air and ground strikes on besieged Gaza since October 2023, leaving more than 70,000 persons dead.
In September, a commission of inquiry set up by the United Nations said that Israelcommitted genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Israel’s foreign ministry had rejected the report, describing it as “distorted and false”.
India’s longstanding position has been to support a two-state solution for establishing a sovereign, viable and independent state of Palestine within recognised and mutually agreed borders, living alongside Israel in peace.
Iran’s response to Israel strikes
On Saturday, the Iranian government stated that “malicious attacks” by the US and Israel took place during “the course of negotiations, reflecting the enemy’s mistaken belief that the steadfast nation of Iran would surrender to their ignoble demands through such cowardly actions”.
“The Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran have commenced a decisive response to these hostile acts and will continuously keep the honourable people informed,” it added.
The Israeli Defense Forces also said that it had identified missiles being launched from Iran toward Israel and that defensive systems were “operating to intercept the threat”.
The attacks came amid tensions between the three countries over Tehran’s nuclear programme. Washington acts as a guarantor of Israel’s security.
The US has repeatedly demanded that Iran give up its nuclear programme, threatening that Tehran must meet its terms or face consequences.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had warned on February 1 that an attack by the US would spark a “regional war”.
Israel had been preparing for a possible conflict with Iran for several weeks.
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