Opposition Questions Modi Govt's Refusal to Condemn the US For Airstrikes on Iran

New Delhi: Opposition members have questioned the union government’s refusal to condemn the United States after it launched airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities early Sunday (June 22). This after Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, spoke with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, expressing “deep concern” over the escalating situation and calling for “immediate de-escalation” through dialogue and diplomacy.

Congress MP and the party’s general secretary media and communications in-charge Jairam Ramesh said that the party “reiterates the absolute essentiality of immediate diplomacy and dialogue with Iran.”

“President Trump's decision to unleash US airpower on Iran makes a mockery of his own calls for the continuation of talks with Iran. The Indian National Congress reiterates the absolute essentiality of immediate diplomacy and dialogue with Iran,” he said.

“The Government of India must demonstrate greater moral courage than it has so far. The Modi Government has unequivocally neither criticised nor condemned the US bombing and Israel's aggression, bombings and targeted assassinations. It has also maintained a deafening silence on the genocide being perpetrated on the Palestianians in Gaza.”

Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas said that it was “deeply concerning” that Modi called on Iran to de-escalate tensions while “remaining conspicuously silent on the blatant violations of international law by the United States and Israel.”

“This departure from India’s time-honoured commitment to sovereignty and non-interference is alarming. Notably, even staunch US allies like Oman, Qatar, and Iraq have openly criticised the strikes, and Saudi Arabia has unequivocally “condemned and denounced the violation of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s sovereignty,” he said.

Modi's statement, confined to expressing “deep concern at the recent escalations,” made clear that India was steering clear of any condemnation of the US strikes. There was no reference to the attacks themselves, nor any attempt to assign responsibility, with only broad terms used such as the “current situation” and “latest escalations.”

'Our foreign policy is so confused'

Samajwadi Party chief and Lok Sabha MP Akhilesh Yadav said that India’s foreign policy appears “confused”.

“Our foreign policy is so confused. While we should not be commenting on this but remember the world looks at who you stand with in bad times. If you are not standing with your friend, who once did a favour for you, it is a big betrayal to the foreign policy of our country,” he said.

In a joint statement Left parties condemned the US bombing in Iran and called it a "grave violation of Iranian sovereignty and the UN Charter" and asked for the Indian government to "abandon" its "pro-US, pro-Israel foreign policy".

"The Indian government must immediately abandon its pro-US, pro-Israel foreign policy stance and join global efforts to stop the war," the statement said.

The statement was issued by the Communist Party of India (CPI), CPI (M), Communist Party of India (ML) Liberation (CPI-ML) Liberation), All India Forward Bloc and the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP).

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