Sonia Gandhi slams Modi govt over silence on Khamenei killing

India's main opposition Congress Parliamentary Party chair Sonia Gandhi has criticised the "silence" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government on the targeted assassination of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, saying such a stand "is not neutral but an abdication" and "raises serious doubts about the direction and credibility of India's foreign policy."

In a column for The Indian Express published today (3 March), Gandhi, former Congress president, also demanded that when parliament reconvenes for the second part of India's budget session, the BJP government's "disturbing silence" over the breakdown of international order be debated openly and without evasion.

She said there is an urgent need for "us to rediscover" the moral strength and articulate it with clarity and commitment.

"The killing of a sitting head of state in the midst of ongoing negotiations marks a grave rupture in contemporary international relations. Yet, beyond the shock of the event, what stands out equally starkly is New Delhi's silence," she added.

Gandhi said the Indian government "has refrained from condemning the assassination or the violation of Iranian sovereignty."

"Initially, ignoring the massive US-Israeli onslaught, the prime minister 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," the opposition leader said.

"When the targeted killing of a foreign leader draws no clear defence 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 continued.

"Silence, in this instance, is not neutral. The assassination was carried out without a formal declaration of war and during an ongoing diplomatic process," she added.

Pointing out that 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, Gandhi said, "A targeted killing of a serving head of state strikes at the heart of these principles."

"If such acts pass without principled objection from the world's largest democracy, the erosion of international norms becomes easier to normalise."

According to the Congress leader, "The unease is compounded by the timing. Barely 48 hours before the assassination, the prime minister returned from a visit to Israel where he reiterated unequivocal 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."

"At a time when much of the Global South, along with major powers – and India's partners in BRICS 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 consequences of this event extend beyond geopolitics. The ripples of this tragedy are visible across continents. And India's stance is signalling tacit endorsement of this tragedy," Gandhi wrote.

Gandhi's article is the latest in a series of attacks by India's opposition parties slamming the Modi government's "silence" on the assassination of Khamenei, saying New Delhi's response to the war inflicted on Iran amounts to "a betrayal of India's values, principles, concerns and interests."