Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi has accused the Modi government of abandoning its moral compass on the Palestine issue. Writing in The Hindu under the title "India's Muted Voice, Its Detachment with Palestine," Gandhi described the Centre's response as a "profound silence" and an outright "abdication of humanity and morality," driven more by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's personal rapport with Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu than by constitutional values or national interests.
"This style of personalised diplomacy is never tenable and cannot be the guiding compass of India's foreign policy," Gandhi wrote, pointing to recent setbacks in Modi's global overtures, including strained ties in the United States. "Attempts to do the same... have come undone in the most painful and humiliating ways in recent months." This marks her third op-ed in recent times targeting the government's Israel-Palestine stance, underscoring a deepening rift within Indian politics on one of the world's most intractable conflicts.
Gandhi's impassioned plea comes at a pivotal moment, as the international community grapples with the escalating crisis in Gaza. Since Hamas's brutal attacks on October 7, 2023, which killed over 1,100 Israelis, Israel's military response has drawn widespread condemnation for its disproportionate scale. According to Gaza health authorities and UN reports, the death toll has now surpassed 65,000 Palestinians, including more than 17,000 children, with traumatic injuries alone accounting for over 64,000 fatalities by mid-2024, per a peer-reviewed analysis in The Lancet. Entire neighborhoods in Gaza have been reduced to rubble, with nearly 90% of homes damaged or destroyed, agriculture decimated, and critical infrastructure—schools, hospitals, and water systems—obliterated.
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The humanitarian catastrophe has plunged Gaza into what experts describe as a man-made famine. Israeli forces have been accused of obstructing aid deliveries, allowing only a "drip-feed" of food, medicine, and essentials amid an "ocean of desperation." In one of the most horrific incidents, hundreds of civilians were gunned down while scrambling for meager food rations, an act Gandhi labeled "one of the most revolting acts of inhumanity." Over 160,000 Palestinians have been injured, and more than 10,000 remain missing under collapsed buildings, as displacement affects nearly the entire 2.3 million population—multiple times over. UNICEF has called the child death toll a "growing stain on our collective conscience," while organizations like Save the Children note it exceeds global conflict child fatalities from the past four years combined.
Against this backdrop, Gandhi hailed a "welcome and long-due departure from the policy of inaction" by several nations. France, joining the United Kingdom, Canada, Portugal, Australia, Belgium, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, and Andorra, formally recognized Palestinian statehood during the UN General Assembly's 80th session this week—bringing the total to 157 UN member states, over 81% of the global body. These moves, Gandhi argued, are not "merely diplomatic gestures" but "affirmations of the moral responsibility that nations bear in the face of prolonged injustice." She warned that "silence is not neutrality, it is complicity," and urged India to reclaim its voice.
Recalling India's storied legacy as a champion of anti-colonial struggles, Gandhi highlighted the nation's early recognition of Palestinian statehood on November 18, 1988, after steadfast support for the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO). Long before independence, India vocally opposed apartheid in South Africa and backed Algeria's fight for freedom from 1954 to 1962. In 1971, it intervened decisively to halt genocide in East Pakistan, birthing Bangladesh—a testament to bold, principled action. On Israel-Palestine, India has historically balanced ties with both sides, advocating peace, human rights, and a two-state solution through forums like the UN, Non-Aligned Movement, and as an observer in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
India's contributions have been tangible: scholarships for Palestinian students, aid for education and healthcare in Gaza and the West Bank, and institutional capacity-building. Yet, Gandhi lamented, "In the last two years, since the outbreak of hostilities... India has all but relinquished its role." She specifically decried a bilateral investment agreement signed just two weeks ago in New Delhi between India and Israel, inked amid the Gaza onslaught. The deal, between Finance Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Bezalel Smotrich—the latter sanctioned by Western nations for inciting violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank—aims to boost mutual investments from the current $800 million baseline, amid $4 billion in annual trade. Critics, including protesters in New Delhi, view it as tone-deaf, especially as Israel's war has isolated it diplomatically.
Gandhi rejected the notion of framing Palestine as a mere foreign policy footnote. "India must not approach the issue... as a test of India's ethical and civilisational heritage," she asserted. "We owe Palestine a sense of historical empathy in its quest for dignity, and we also owe Palestine the courage to translate that empathy into principled action." She called for leadership in multilateral arenas, pushing for negotiated settlements, international law adherence, and an immediate cessation of violence—not partisanship, but "principled leadership, consistent with the values that have long guided India... and on which its freedom movement was anchored."
"India's standing on the world stage cannot be wrapped up into the personal glory-seeking ways of one individual, nor can it rest on its historical laurels," Gandhi concluded. "It demands persistent courage and a sense of historical continuity." Her words have resonated across opposition circles, with Congress leaders amplifying calls for parliamentary debate on India's Palestine policy. As global pressure mounts on Israel—evident in the UNGA recognitions and sanctions on figures like Smotrich—Gandhi's intervention poses a stark challenge: Will India rediscover its moral authority, or continue down a path of perceived complicity? The answer could redefine its global image at a time when the Global South looks to New Delhi for inspiration.
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