2 months ago
1
The Congress connected Saturday (February 28, 2026) termed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's sojourn to Israel "shameful" and "ill-timed," saying it creates the cognition of a governmental endorsement of subject escalation which is profoundly antithetical to India's historical committedness to a rules-based planetary order.
In a statement, Salman Khurshid, Chairman of the Congress Foreign Affairs Department, said the Congress is "deeply concerned" astatine Mr. Modi's sojourn to Israel from February 25 to 26 astatine a infinitesimal of heightened tensions, a breakout of hostilities and the palpable hazard of wider struggle and the palpable hazard of wider struggle successful West Asia.
U.S. President Donald Trump connected Saturday (February 28, 2026) announced that his state has begun "major combat operations successful Iran" aft Israel launched strikes.
The Congress said Mr. Modi's sojourn is "particularly ill-timed" due to the fact that it creates a cognition of partisan alignment and tacit endorsement of unprovoked aggression could person sedate strategical consequences. It besides said it risks conveying alignment with and endorsement of an incumbent authorities up of nationalist elections.
"Prime Minister Modi's sojourn astatine this juncture creates the cognition of a governmental endorsement of subject escalation, which is profoundly antithetical to India's historical committedness to a rules-based planetary bid and the United Nations Charter-particularly the prohibition connected the usage of unit against the territorial integrity oregon governmental independency of immoderate State (Article 2 [4]) and the peaceful colony of disputes (Article 2 [3])," Mr. Khurshid said.
Congress wide secretary, communications, Jairam Ramesh besides that 2 days aft Mr. Modi "celebrated his sojourn to Israel", Israel and the U.S. began their associated battle connected Iran.
"This was afloat expected fixed their subject build-up successful the past fewer months. Mr. Modi nevertheless chose to spell to Israel, wherever helium displayed the highest motivation cowardice. He declared that India stood with Israel and got himself an grant for saying so.
"This Israel sojourn was shameful and it is adjacent much truthful successful airy of the warfare that has been launched by 2 of Mr. Modi's 'good friends'," Mr. Ramesh wrote on X.
Mr. Khurshid said India's overseas argumentation is profoundly rooted successful Vasudhaiva Kutumbaka ("the satellite is 1 family"), Mahatma Gandhi's doctrine of ahimsa (non-violence), Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's argumentation of non-alignment and embedded successful Article 51 of India's Constitution, which mandates "respect for planetary instrumentality and pact obligations" (including the United Nations Charter, the Geneva Conventions, the International Covenant connected Civil and Political Rights, and the Paris Agreement).
The erstwhile outer affairs curate said that pursuant to this commitment, India has consistently and constructively intervened against apartheid successful South Africa, successful the Korean War done the Neutral Nations Repatriation Commission, successful its enactment for anti-colonial movements crossed Asia and Africa, arsenic a starring dependable of the Global South wrong the Non-Aligned Movement, and done its contributions to humanitarian alleviation and United Nations peacekeeping operations.
"In airy of this principled legacy, the Indian National Congress (INC) remains firmly committed to peaceful coexistence, stableness and shared prosperity successful West Asia, arsenic so the world," helium noted.
"The Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) authorities needs to beryllium mindful that India has civilisational, economic, energy, geopolitical and diasporic ties not lone with Israel, but besides with Iran, Palestine, and the wider region," Mr. Khurshid said.
Equally problematically, helium said, Mr. Modi's perceived authorisation of actions that undermine the sovereignty of aggregate nations undermines India's ain principled presumption connected Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir.
"To sphere some motivation authorization and strategical credibility, India indispensable apply-uniformly and without exception-the precise principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and peaceful solution of disputes that India has consistently invoked successful defence of its ain morganatic nationalist interests," helium said.
"Finally, PM Modi's sojourn is peculiarly ill-timed arsenic it risks conveying alignment and endorsement of an incumbent authorities connected the eve of nationalist elections," the Congress person said.
The interest is not without precedent, helium said, adding that the 2019 "Howdy Modi" lawsuit successful Houston was wide perceived arsenic blurring the enactment betwixt authorities diplomacy and partisan governmental signalling during the U.S. electoral cycle.
"Both incidents underscored the inherent risks successful the conflation of diplomatic engagement with electoral politics. It is imperative that Prime Minister Modi recognize that relationships are betwixt nations, not betwixt idiosyncratic leaders oregon ideologically aligned governmental parties," Mr. Khurshid asserted.
He said the Congress values and seeks to deepen India's concern with Israel, arsenic it does with Iran, Palestine and different nations successful West Asia.
The Congress besides supports engagement successful furthering India's strategical and economical interests, helium said.
"However, specified engagement indispensable beryllium cautiously balanced against diplomatic considerations and pursued with prudence, peculiarly erstwhile those interests hazard being jeopardised by struggle oregon undermined by perceptions that the authorities of the time is sacrificing the nation's civilisational and law principles, and committedness to the rules-based planetary order," the president of Congress' Foreign Affairs section said.
Mr. Modi was connected a two-day sojourn to Israel during which the 2 nations elevated their "time-tested" narration to a peculiar strategical concern and agreed to fast-track a long-awaited escaped commercialized deal.
Mr. Modi besides backed the Gaza bid initiative, asserting that humanity indispensable ne'er go a unfortunate of conflict.
In his media connection aft holding wide-ranging talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mr. Modi said India's information interests are straight linked to bid and stableness successful the Middle East and that New Delhi has been pitching for a peaceful solution to the struggle successful Gaza.
