Congress escalates attack on Centre’s Gaza policy, backs Sonia Gandhi’s call for ‘moral clarity’

‎ The Congress on Saturday sharpened its criticism of the Narendra Modi government’s approach to the Gaza conflict, accusing it of abandoning India’s traditional foreign policy stance and failing to speak out against the humanitarian crisis faced by Palestinians.

Senior party leaders Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge threw their weight behind an editorial by Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, which urged India to reclaim an independent foreign policy and take a clearer position on developments in Gaza.

‎In a post on social media platform X, Rahul Gandhi argued that India was moving closer to Israel at a time when international opinion was increasingly critical of the country’s actions in Gaza.

‎“We are slipping further into Israel’s strategic orbit, at a time when the world is increasingly pivoting away from it. The Prime Minister’s visit to Israel will go down in history as a bewildering strategic decision,” Gandhi said.

‎Calling for stronger support for the Palestinian cause, he added, “The spirit of Indian nationhood demands that we speak up for our Palestinian brothers and sisters whose children have been so brutally targeted.”

‎Referring to Sonia Gandhi’s editorial, Rahul Gandhi said she had urged India to “reclaim its independent foreign policy, uphold humanitarian values, and speak up with moral clarity on Gaza.”

‎Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge echoed the criticism, describing Sonia Gandhi’s article as a reminder of what he termed the weakening of India’s traditional ties and diplomatic position in West Asia.

‎“Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson, Smt. Sonia Gandhi’s evocative piece calling out Modi Govt’s silence and inaction for our Palestinian brothers and sisters whose children have been brutally targeted is a stark reminder of how our current foreign policy has alienated our historical allies in Palestine, Iran, and the larger Middle East. We have also distanced ourselves from global public opinion,” Kharge wrote on X.

‎Highlighting Sonia Gandhi’s arguments, Kharge quoted her as saying: “The spirit of Indian nationhood demands that we speak up for our Palestinian brothers and sisters whose children have been so brutally targeted. The calculus of national interest demands that we respond to the global public opinion against the Israeli regime’s genocidal actions in Gaza and its brutal displacement and dispossession of lakhs of Palestinian families in the occupied West Bank. The Modi government’s continued silence simply cannot be explained rationally or morally.”

‎The Congress has repeatedly alleged that the Modi government has drifted away from India’s long-standing policy of supporting a two-state solution while maintaining balanced relations with both Israel and Palestine. The opposition party has urged New Delhi to take a more vocal position on civilian suffering and humanitarian concerns arising from the conflict.

‎The BJP-led government, meanwhile, has maintained that India supports dialogue and diplomacy as the path to a lasting resolution. New Delhi has continued to back a negotiated two-state solution, while also calling for the protection of civilians and the uninterrupted delivery of humanitarian aid.

‎The latest intervention by Rahul Gandhi and Kharge underscores the Congress party’s efforts to make India’s response to the Gaza conflict a major political issue, portraying the government’s stance as a departure from the country’s traditional foreign policy principles and humanitarian commitments.