LoP in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi during the second part of the Budget Session of the Parliament, in New Delhi, Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (PTI Photo)
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday mounted a sharp attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s handling of foreign policy, calling it a “personal” approach that has turned into a “universal joke”, even as Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge questioned the government over India’s strategic autonomy, stranded ships and the deepening energy crisis.
The criticism came after the Prime Minister addressed Parliament on the West Asia situation and the government convened an all-party meeting to discuss the evolving crisis and its implications for India.
Addressing reporters at Parliament House, Gandhi alleged that India’s foreign policy has been reduced to the Prime Minister’s personal domain. “This is Prime Minister Modi’s personal foreign policy… It’s a universal joke. Everybody considers that a universal joke,” he said, adding that global leaders, including Donald Trump, “know exactly what Mr. Modi can do or what Mr. Modi cannot do”.
He claimed that if the Prime Minister is “compromised”, India’s foreign policy is also compromised. “He made an irrelevant speech yesterday. He is the Prime Minister. What is the position? There is no position at all… The sad part is that people will suffer because of this; this is just the beginning,” Gandhi said, warning of problems in LPG, petrol and fertilisers amid the ongoing West Asia crisis.
Gandhi also criticised the Prime Minister’s remarks likening the situation to the Covid period, saying the government appeared to have forgotten the scale of suffering during the pandemic. He said he would not attend the all-party meeting convened by the Centre on the crisis, citing a prior engagement in Kerala, but added that while debate is necessary, a “structural mistake” had already been made that would take time to fix.
In a more pointed charge, Gandhi said he could “give it in writing” that the Prime Minister would follow what the US and Israel dictate, rather than act in India’s or farmers’ interests.
Separately, Kharge, in a statement responding to the Prime Minister’s speech in the Rajya Sabha, said the 20-minute address was “at best, an exercise in obfuscation” and demanded clear answers to three key questions.
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First, he alleged that the Prime Minister’s “inconsistent and swinging diplomatic posture” had altered the balance of India’s strategic autonomy, a long-standing pillar of its foreign policy. Referring to Modi’s recent visit to Israel, Kharge said India had faced “visible diplomatic consequences” and asked why Parliament and the nation were not taken into confidence about this apparent shift.
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Second, he raised concerns over Indian shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, claiming that around 40 Indian-flagged vessels carrying around 1,100 sailors and cargo worth Rs 10,000 crore remain stranded despite diplomatic outreach to Iran. He questioned why countries such as China, Russia and Japan were able to secure safe passage while Indian ships remained stuck.
Third, Kharge questioned the government’s claims of diversifying energy imports from 27 to 41 countries, asking for details of suppliers and quantities of LNG, LPG and crude oil, and why shortages, price rise and black marketing persist despite such diversification.
He warned that 25 days into the conflict, India was facing a “deepening energy crisis” and criticised the Prime Minister’s comparison to Covid, recalling the “tragic suffering” during the pandemic.
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“Is the Prime Minister now suggesting that 140 crore Indians must once again fend for themselves,” Kharge asked, flagging risks of cascading impacts on food, fertiliser supply, MSMEs and inflation.
