Congress MP Jairam Ramesh speaks during an interview with PTI.
| Photo Credit: PTI
The Congress on Tuesday (July 14, 2026) expressed concern over the renewed conflict in West Asia, accusing the Narendra Modi government of failing to safeguard India’s strategic interests and allowing Pakistan to expand its regional footprint.
In a statement, the Congress’s Foreign Affairs Department chairperson, Salman Khurshid, said the party was deeply concerned over the resumption of hostilities and attacks on commercial shipping. The free movement of vessels and trade should not be “weaponised” by the warring sides, Mr. Khurshid said, urging all sides to adhere to international law and pursue peaceful resolution through structured dialogue.
The Congress also expressed concern over attacks on Iran’s Chabahar Port, which Mr. Khurshid described as a strategic asset developed by successive Indian governments to provide India access to Central Asia.
He urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take urgent steps to protect India’s geopolitical and geo-economic interests and brief Parliament on the government’s response during the forthcoming monsoon session of Parliament.
“The BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) government’s inexplicable silence and lethargy in stridently defending Indian interests in West Asia are unacceptable. This inertia is severely circumscribing India’s strategic autonomy and ceding space to other actors, including Pakistan, to expand their regional footprint,” Mr. Khurshid said.
Although the recently announced Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding between the United States and Iran had “all but collapsed”, the growing bonhomie between Washington and Islamabad continued, signalling Pakistan’s rising influence in the region, Congress’s communications chief Jairam Ramesh had said earlier.
Referring to Pakistan Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi’s recent visit to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) headquarters in the U.S. and his meeting with FBI Director Kash Patel, Mr. Ramesh said that, after U.S. President Donald Trump, the Vice-President, the Secretary of State, and the head of the U.S. Central Command, it was now the FBI Director who had “warmly embraced” Pakistan.
“The Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. and Iran agreed to last month (June 2026) has now all but collapsed. But the bonhomie between the U.S. and Pakistan continues,” Mr. Ramesh said.
“That this new position of influence held by Pakistan in West Asia and indeed in the world is a severe setback to India and a question mark on the substance and style of the self-proclaimed Vishwaguru is now beyond any doubt,” the Congress leader said.
Published – July 14, 2026 05:46 pm IST
