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Informist, Monday, Jun. 15, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – "This was never India's war. Yet somehow, we emerge diminished from it," Indian National Congress Spokesperson Pawan Khera said Monday after Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced the finalisation of a peace agreement between Iran and the US.   

 

Questioning the objectives of the Narendra Modi government's foreign policy pursuits, Khera said that despite Modi zealously publicising his "personal rapport" with US President Trump, India failed to "contribute meaningfully" to the resolution of the crisis in West Asia.

 

"The signing of the peace agreement between Iran and the US comes as a relief to all those who value peace. For India, however, this moment raises uncomfortable questions about our place in the emerging world order," Khera wrote on X.

 

Noting that the agreement was facilitated through the efforts of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey, he said India, despite its civilisational ties with Iran, and Modi's personal rapport with Trump, was "nowhere in the picture". "We failed to leverage these relationships, enhance our diplomatic relevance, or contribute meaningfully to the pursuit of peace. Instead, our External Affairs Minister dismissed the very idea of mediation as 'dalali'," Khera said.

 

He pointed out that under the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government (2004-2014), Pakistan was placed on the Financial Action Task Force grey list. "Yet today, Pakistan has successfully projected itself as a stakeholder in global stability and a beacon of peace...Modi hai to mumkin hai!"

 

Congress General Secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh warned that Pakistan's newly acquired "regional and global influence", coupled with China's deep embedding in Pakistan's strategic apparatus, poses "a formidable geopolitical challenge for India's foreign policy."

 

"It is too much to expect Mr. Modi to rethink his blind devotion and unconditional support to Israel. But humanitarian considerations and long-standing commitments apart, our national interest demands greater balance than Mr. Modi has shown," Jairam Ramesh said.  

 

The opposition has also questioned Prime Minister Modi's studied silence on the deaths of three Indian sailors in a US attack on an oil tanker near Oman last week. Modi neither condemned nor condoled the deaths of the sailors.  End

 

Reported by Asim Khan

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

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