NEW DELHI: Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi has criticised the Central government's silence regarding the assassination of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, during the joint US-Israel airstrikes.
She stated that the lack of any official statement on this matter is not neutral; rather, it amounts to an "abdication" of responsibility.
Gandhi also highlighted Tehran's support for New Delhi at the UN when the Kashmir topic was raised in 1994.
In an op-ed published in The Indian Express, titled 'Government's silence on killing of Iran leader is not neutral, it is abdication', Sonia Gandhi said, "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."
The Government of India, she said, 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, " she said, referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent remarks on the West Asia conflict.
"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, she added.
Stressing that "Silence, in this instance, is not neutral", Sonia Gandhi asserted that the assassination was carried out "without a formal declaration of war and during an ongoing diplomatic process".
She stated 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. "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, " she said.
The Congress Rajya Sabha member also slammed the Prime Minister for his "unequivocal support" of the Israeli government led by Benjamin Netanyahu, citing the Gaza conflict, and said that India's "high-profile political endorsement without moral clarity marks a visible and troubling departure".