Sonia Gandhi slams Modi govt for betraying Iran, surrendering to Israel

New Delhi  (Web Desk): Senior Indian Congress leader and former party president Sonia Gandhi has strongly criticized the Modi-led government, alleging that it has forsaken India’s long-standing policy of maintaining balance between Israel and Iran, choosing instead to favor Israel while sidelining strategic relations with Tehran.

In a detailed opinion piece published in an Indian newspaper, Gandhi condemned the government’s “silence and lack of response” following the targeted killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in coordinated strikes by the United States and Israel. She described this inaction not as neutrality, but as an abdication of responsibility and a serious betrayal of India’s traditional diplomatic approach in West Asia.

Gandhi highlighted that India’s historical foreign policy carefully sought to maintain equilibrium between Israel and Iran, rooted in centuries-old civilizational ties as well as strategic interests. She emphasized that Iran has been a valuable partner in major regional initiatives such as the Chabahar Port and the Zahedan connectivity project, which have significantly enhanced India’s regional trade and access.

“By making prominent visits to Israel without equivalent engagement with Iran, and now remaining conspicuously quiet on the assassination of a sitting head of state, the government has torn apart decades of balanced diplomacy,” Gandhi wrote.

She further criticized the government for prioritizing political optics, defense agreements with Israel, and alignment with Western powers over national interests and ethical considerations. She pointed out that India’s official statements focused largely on condemning Iran’s retaliatory actions while largely ignoring the initial unprovoked strikes, raising serious doubts about India’s credibility internationally.

Gandhi called the current approach “moral cowardice”, noting that it isolates India among Global South countries and BRICS partners such as Russia and China, who have adopted more measured stances emphasizing territorial sovereignty and conflict de-escalation.

She posed a broader question about India’s role on the global stage: if the country appears hesitant to defend sovereignty and international norms today, why should other nations in the Global South trust India to uphold these principles in the future?

Concluding her article, Gandhi urged that when Parliament reconvenes for the second part of the Budget session, the government’s “disturbing silence” on the international order and breakdown of diplomacy should be openly discussed, without attempts at evasion.