Statement on Prime Minister Modi

1.

Statement on Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Israel & attack on Iran

New Delhi, February 28, 2026

India’s foreign policy is deeply rooted in Vasudhaiva Kutumbaka ("the world is one family"), Mahatma Gandhi’s doctrine of ahimsa (non-violence), Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s policy of non-alignment and embedded in Article 51 of India’s Constitution, which mandates "respect for international law and treaty obligations" (including the United Nations Charter, the Geneva Conventions, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Paris Agreement). Pursuant to this commitment, India has consistently and constructively intervened against apartheid in South Africa, in the Korean War through the Neutral Nations Repatriation Commission, in its support for anti-colonial movements across Asia and Africa, as a leading voice of the Global South within the Non-Aligned Movement, and from its contributions to humanitarian relief and United Nations peacekeeping operations.

In light of this principled legacy, the Indian National Congress (INC) remains firmly committed to peaceful coexistence, stability and shared prosperity in West Asia, as indeed the world. Given this, the INC is deeply concerned at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel on 25-26 February 2026 at a moment of heightened tensions, a breakout of hostilities and the palpable risk of wider conflict and the palpable risk of wider conflict in West Asia. PM Modi’s visit at this juncture creates the perception of a political endorsement of military escalation, which is deeply antithetical to India’s historic commitment to a rules-based international order and the United Nations Charter-particularly the prohibition on the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State (Article 2 [4]) and the peaceful settlement of disputes (Article 2 [3]).

This perception of partisan alignment and tacit endorsement of unprovoked aggression risks compromising India’s calibrated position, which will have grave strategic consequences for India. The Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) government needs to be mindful that India has civilisational, economic, energy, geopolitical and diasporic ties not only with Israel, but also with Iran, Palestine, and the wider region.

Equally problematically, PM Modi’s perceived sanction of actions that undermine the sovereignty of multiple nations undermines India’s own principled position on Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir. To preserve both moral authority and strategic credibility, India must apply-uniformly and without exception-the very principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and peaceful resolution of disputes that India has consistently invoked in defence of its own legitimate national interests.

Finally, PM Modi’s visit is particularly ill-timed as it risks conveying alignment and endorsement of an incumbent government on the eve of national elections. The concern is not without precedent. The 2019 "Howdy Modi" event in Houston was widely perceived as blurring the line between state diplomacy and partisan political signalling during the U.S. electoral cycle. Both incidents underscored the inherent risks in the conflation of diplomatic engagement with electoral politics. It is imperative that Prime Minister Modi understand that relationships are between nations, not between individual leaders or ideologically aligned political parties.

The Indian National Congress values and seeks to deepen India’s partnership with Israel, as it does with Iran, Palestine and other nations in West Asia. INC also supports engagement in the furtherance of India’s strategic and economic interests. However, such engagement must be carefully balanced against diplomatic considerations and pursued with prudence, particularly when those interests risk being jeopardised by conflict or undermined by perceptions that the government of the day is sacrificing the nation’s civilisational and constitutional principles, and commitment to the rules-based international order.

Issued by the Foreign Affairs Department, Indian National Congress

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2. Statement on Iran

New Delhi, March 1, 2028

The Indian National Congress (INC) unequivocally condemns the targeted assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Hosseini Khamenei, in a military strike carried out without a formal declaration of war. The INC extends its deepest condolences to the Supreme Leader’s family, to the people of Iran, and the Shia community around the world in this moment of profound grief. We stand in solidarity with them as they navigate this grave crisis.

India’s foreign policy is anchored in a commitment to the peaceful settlement of disputes through dialogue and respect for international law, as mandated in Article 51 of the Constitution of India. These principles-sovereign equality, non- intervention and the promotion of peace are foundational to India’s civilisational values. Given this, the conflict in West Asia is deeply antithetical to our commitment to Vasudhaiva Kutumbaka ("the world is one family"), Mahatma Gandhi’s doctrine of ahimsa (non-violence), Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s policy of non-alignment.

The targeted use of force to destabilise the leadership and governing structures of a sovereign state whether in Iran or earlier in Venezuela-signals a disturbing revival of regime-change doctrines and coercive unilateralism. It also contravenes the United Nations Charter-especially Article 2(4), which expressly prohibits "the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state," and Article 2(7), which forbids intervention in matters essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state. A targeted killing of a sitting head of state strikes at the heart of these international rules. Sovereignty is not conditional, and political legitimacy cannot be manufactured through force.

The INC reiterates that it is the inalienable right of every nation’s citizens to determine their own political future. No external power has the authority to engineer regime change or dictate the leadership of another state. Such actions amount to imperialism and are fundamentally incompatible with a genuinely rules- based international order.

— Malikarjun Kharge, President of Indian National Congress