Congress questions Modi on BRICS summit over West Asia crisis

The Congress questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi over not advancing the BRICS+ Summit for a diplomatic initiative on the West Asia crisis. It alleged reluctance to antagonise global leaders and criticised India’s response to the ongoing conflict

New Delhi: Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Congress on Monday asked why the “self-styled Vishwaguru” is not advancing the BRICS+ Summit that India is set to host this year to put together a diplomatic initiative to deal with the crisis in West Asia.

The opposition party also claimed that Modi does not want to “antagonise” US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

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Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh pointed out that the 18th annual BRICS+ Summit will take place in New Delhi under India’s presidency later this year, with Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the UAE as members.

“Why is the self-styled Vishwaguru not advancing the Summit to put together a diplomatic initiative to deal with the crisis in West Asia and its impact? Clearly, he does not want to antagonise President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu,” Ramesh said on X.

“Mr Modi has reportedly been making phone calls to foreign leaders to discuss the West Asia situation. This mode of communication has its limitations – no hugs, and no finger-waving, gyaan-giving photo-ops for our El Supremo. But summits can be more productive and result in concrete steps apart from valuable face-to-face confabulations,” the Congress leader said.

The G20 this year is headed by the US, and it will not result in anything consequential other than more rants and taunts by the US president, Ramesh claimed.

The Congress last week lashed out at the government for not releasing a collective statement on the West Asia conflict as the BRICS+ chair, saying Prime Minister Modi is “diminishing” the standing of the grouping’s presidency in his desire to “appease” Trump and maintain his “cosy relationship” with Netanyahu.

On Saturday, the Congress said the Modi government’s failure to condemn the US-Israel aerial assault on Iran and force a brutal regime change there reflected the “moral cowardice” and “political betrayal” of India’s civilisational values.

Ramesh had said that Modi also did not use his much-claimed friendship with Trump and Netanyahu to bring about a ceasefire.

The over three-week war has shown no signs of abating, with Israel saying Iran continued to fire missiles at it early Saturday, while Saudi Arabia said it downed 20 drones in just a couple of hours in the country’s eastern region, which is home to major oil installations.

Iran has also fired at energy sites in the Gulf countries and has now threatened recreational and tourist sites worldwide.

The US is deploying more warships and another 2,500 Marines, three weeks into the war it launched alongside Israel on February 28.