The Congress on Friday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government at the Centre must “stop subordinating the national interest to electoral and ideological considerations” and take the opposition into confidence on its strategy with respect to the conflict in West Asia.
In a resolution adopted at a Congress Working Committee meeting in Delhi, the party said it welcomed the two-week ceasefire between Iran and the United States, describing it as a “vital step towards de-escalation, renewed diplomacy and constructive dialogue”.
The resolution said that the targeted assassinations of heads of state, waging war in violation of international law and attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure “are unconscionable crimes against both humanity and a rules-based world order”.
It said that any meaningful resolution must be based on the principles of the Geneva Conventions, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Paris Agreement and the United Nations Charter.
The Congress said that the pause in hostilities provides an opportunity to assess the costs of the conflict for India, and remarked that the country’s “energy security has been undermined” and its ties across its extended strategic neighbourhood have been strained.
The party alleged that the BJP-led government’s “myopic, xenophobic and unprincipled internationalism” has alienated India from its neighbours, and has also undermined efforts by successive governments to diplomatically isolate Pakistan.
“By ceding strategic and diplomatic space, the BJP government has handed Pakistan the room to rehabilitate its global image, and whitewash its track record of fomenting regional instability through support for cross-border terrorism targeting India, Afghanistan and Iran,” the party alleged.
The Congress made the statement as Pakistan prepares to host peace talks between Iran and the United States in Islamabad. An Iranian delegation arrived in the Pakistani capital late on Friday, and the American delegation is expected to arrive on Saturday.
The Congress Working Committee resolution said that in the context of “the unprecedented polycrisis we face”, the BJP government must stop subordinating national interest to electoral or ideological considerations.
“Instead, the BJP government must take the Opposition into confidence, urgently recalibrate and adopt a unified national approach to restore India’s historic role as a principled, proactive and credible voice for peace and a just international order,” it said.
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