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New Delhi: Amid the increasing hostilities in West Asia following US and Israel’s attack on Iran, Congress MP Manish Tewari has said that India has never supported the use of military intervention to bring about regime change in any country while questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence. 

In an interview with The Wire, Tewari, who is a member of the parliamentary standing committee on external affairs, said “the silence of the government, not even speaking a word, critiquing or expressing concern at the American-Israeli intervention to bring about regime change in Iran is a matter of grave concern.”

“The point is the principle of accepting regime change through military intervention. Therefore when you do not hold the line and you still claim that you are the voice of the global South your credibility gets diminished considerably, and I’m putting it very, very mildly,” he said.

Since the conflict broke out on February 28 with the US and Israel launching attacks on Iran, which has since seen retaliatory actions that has spread to other Gulf regions, Modi has held telephonic conversations with leaders from the region. He also had a conversation with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. India has not issued any condemnation of the US and Israeli strikes on Iran, including the killing of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, despite strong criticism from the opposition.

Tewari said that the rising tensions not only have implications for India’s energy security, but due to the presence of the large Indian diaspora in the region “volatility becomes a matter of extreme circumspection and concern.” He also questioned the timing of Modi’s visit to Israel just prior to the attacks being launched on Iran and said that India’s position on the Palestinian question “should have been laid out very clearly.”

Read the full interview below, edited lightly for clarity: 

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