Explained: This article explains the political background, key decisions, and possible outcomes related to Explained : Interview | ‘Never Before has India Taken a Position Subservient to US Foreign Policy’: CPI(M) MP John Brittas and Its Impact and why it matters right now.
In an interview with The Wire, Brittas said that Modi’s silence is a ‘disgrace’ and the nation is ‘agonised, traumatised” over the centre’s stand on the “unilateral attack of US and Israel on Iran”.
New Delhi: Amid the ongoing conflict in West Asia, Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP John Brittas, who is also a member of the parliamentary standing committee on external affairs, has questioned India’s silence on the US and Israel’s actions in Iran.
India has not issued any condemnation of the joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran, including the killing of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, despite strong criticism from the opposition.
In an interview with The Wire, Brittas said that Modi’s silence is a “disgrace” and said that the conflict has a bearing on the lives and livelihoods of the Indian diaspora in the region.
“It is a disgrace to India. For the first time in the history of this independent nation such a vacillation has happened, such a compromise has been made. Never has India taken such a position which is subservient to the American foreign policy,” he said.
Since the conflict broke out on February 28 with the US and Israel launching attacks on Iran, and the latter’s retaliatory actions on other Gulf countries, Modi has held telephonic conversations with leaders from the region. He also had a conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Brittas questioned the timing of Modi’s visit to Israel just prior to the US-Israel action on Iran and said that the “whole nation is agonised, traumatised over the stand of the Indian government of being silent over the unilateral attack of US and Israel on Iran.”
Brittas said that in the second leg of the Budget session of the parliament, scheduled to begin next week, the opposition will demand an explanation from the government and a comprehensive discussion on the issue.
Read the full interview below, edited lightly for clarity:
With hostilities rising, how do you see the developments in West Asia?
It has got a huge bearing and impact not only on the Indian economy and Indian polity, but also on the well-being and livelihoods of the Indian diaspora. More than 1 core Indians are in West Asia. The havoc that these tensions will play on these economies will have a huge bearing on the well-being of our fellow Indians who are living and working there. More than that, their impact on India is crucial. Because our oil import is from that area. What will be the cascading effect on increasing oil prices? It’s almost like we are going to pay a tax for this unilateral attack of the US on Iran because virtually everyone has to shell out more for the violation of the international rules by the US. Having said that, the sorry state of our foreign policy, the so-called strategic autonomy and independence is quite dismaying at this moment.
Prime Minister Modi has had telephone conversations with eight nations including Netanyahu. He has expressed concern for Indians living in West Asia. Yet there has not been an open condemnation of Khamenei’s killing. How do you see the government’s response and Modi’s silence?
It is a disgrace to India. For the first time in the history of this independent nation, such a vacillation has happened, such a compromise has been made. Never has India taken such a position which is subservient to the American foreign policy. And it is also something to [note], how Israel and the US started the attack soon after the Prime Minister returned from Israel. The conduct of the Prime Minister is something which India should be ashamed of. Not a single word was said about the massacre taking place in Gaza.
Iran has had a very robust relationship with India. Despite that, when an independent nation is attacked and India keeps silent, it’s something that nobody would have expected.
I feel that the whole nation is agonised and traumatised over the stand of the Indian government of being silent over the unilateral attack. And if this is the benchmark, tomorrow the US and Israel can attack any nation.
With the parliament reconvening next week, will the opposition take a united stand and take this up in the House?
This will be one of the major issues taken up by the opposition in the second leg of the budget session, we will demand a comprehensive discussion and an explanation from the Government of India.
This article went live on March fourth, two thousand twenty six, at eighteen minutes past three in the afternoon.
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