3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Mar 23, 2026 10:16 PM IST
The Congress on Monday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not condemning the US-Israel strikes on Iran during his address in Lok Sabha on the West Asia conflict and delivering “an uncharacteristically short speech” which was “as usual, a masterclass in self-boasts, cowardice, and partisan dialogue-baazi.”
In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said PM Modi’s statement in Lok Sabha included “bluster on India’s economic growth record” and termed his reference to the pandemic “concerning”. He described the BJP-led NDA government’s response to Covid-19 pandemic as “uniquely catastrophic.”
“Not a single word was uttered in condemnation of the continued US-Israeli air assaults on Iran. Iran’s attack on the Gulf countries and the Strait of Hormuz are, to be sure, completely unacceptable — but so is the relentless bombing of Iran with the objective of regime change and state collapse,” Ramesh said.
“The Prime Minister also continued his bluster on India’s economic growth record. A few days ago, his own former Chief Economic Advisor went on record warning that India’s economic growth in Modi’s tenure was significantly over-estimated,” he said, adding that the PM seems to believe that if he doesn’t engage with this “very credible and disturbing report, he can wish it away.”
Prime Minister Modi told the Lok Sabha that India is “consistently working” to bring down tensions in West Asia, stressing that “dialogue and diplomacy is the only solution” to the ongoing conflict that has now entered its fourth week.
Recalling the pandemic, Ramesh said, “The nation cannot forget the deeply depressing scenes which became all too normal then — lakhs of migrants walking barefoot to their homes, thousands dying from oxygen shortages, and millions left unemployed. We can only hope there is more preparedness this time.”
Calling for a discussion over the West Asia war, Congress Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said while the PM had informed the country about the current situation, in such circumstances, there should also be a discussion on the notice the Congress had moved.
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CPI-ML general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya said while the PM had “finally” taken note of the “unjust US-Israel war on Iran” on Day 24, he spoke “for 20 minutes without uttering a word of condemnation” of the “US-Israel design that sabotaged diplomacy and launched war.”
Repeated mention of the pandemic, he said, “hinted at the scale of crisis and disruption” with “no specific assurance” for either stranded expatriate workers in West Asia or the common people in India already hit hard by LPG crisis and soaring prices except a “vague warning against hoarding and rumour-mongering.”
