Sonia Gandhi criticizes Modi govt over ‘stony silence’ on Gaza
Says BJP govt sacrificed India's interests for Modi-Netanyahu friendship
New Delhi: Congress leader Sonia Gandhi has launched a sharp attack on the Modi government, saying its “stony silence” over Israel’s genocide in Gaza is not just morally reprehensible but also contrary to India’s national interest.
According to Kashmir Media Service, in an article published in The Indian Express, the Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson said the Modi government has alienated India from its historical allies in Palestine, Iran, and the larger Middle East, distanced itself from global public opinion, and allowed Pakistan to emerge as a mediator.
Gandhi said India’s national interest demands a response to growing international outrage over Israel’s genocidal actions in Gaza and the 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,” she said.
Referring to findings of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Gandhi said the Commission concluded in September 2025 that Israeli authorities were committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. She added that in June 2026, the Commission, now headed by Justice (Retd) S Muralidhar, a distinguished Indain jurist, reiterated that Israeli actions were intended to destroy the very existence of Palestinians in Gaza by targeting their children.
“The targeting of children in Gaza is not incidental, but a deliberate strategy,” Gandhi asserted. She said despite Israel’s clear genocidal intent, the support of US President Donald Trump’s administration had enabled Tel Aviv to continue its military campaign against Palestinians, while much of the international community had condemned the violence.
“Amidst the growing public backlash against Israel and the international community’s cognisance of the unjustifiable brutality unleashed on Gaza, India remains a lone voice of silence,” she said, adding that Justice Muralidhar’s report, which has sparked renewed conversation and activism against the Gaza genocide, had been met with “stony silence” by from the Modi government.
Gandhi said India was once distinguished for its commitment to post-colonial solidarity, national sovereignty and international peace but had now become exceptional for its indifference to violations of the rules-based international order and the suffering of people in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
“The Modi government’s silence and inaction are not just morally reprehensible but also inexplicable from a national interest perspective,” she said in the article. She further said India is slipping further into Israel’s strategic orbit, at a time when the world is increasingly pivoting away from it.
Gandhi also described Modi’s visit to Israel only days before its war on Iran and the assassination of Iran’s top political leadership as a “bewildering strategic decision”. She said India had sacrificed both its strategic interests and moral standing for what amounted to little more than the personal friendship between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is now under attack all over the world, including in the US.
