"BJP's missteps have led to Pakistan playing a role in mediating": Congress on US-Iran ceasefire

In a post on X, Congress Foreign Affairs Department President Salman Khurshid released the official statement from the party and condemned the BJP's "missteps, partisan alignment and cowardly silence", accusing it of compromising India's energy security, global relations, moral leadership in the Global South snad standing in Indian Ocean Region.

"The Indian National Congress welcomes the temporary cessation of hostilities as a vital step towards deescalation, renewed diplomacy and constructive dialogue, and ultimately lasting peace in West Asia. Any meaningful resolution must be anchored in the principles of the United Nations Charter, especially Article 2(4), which expressly prohibits the threat or use of force against territorial integrity and Article 2(7), which forbids intervention in matters of domestic jurisdiction. These global norms are mirrored in India's civilisational values of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam ("the world is one family"), ahimsa (non-violence) and Nehruvian non-alignment. This interim cessation in hostilities offers us a window to objectively assess the costs to India," he official letter read.

"The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government's missteps, partisan alignment and cowardly silence have compromised India's energy security, strained relationships in our extended strategic neighbourhood, weakened our standing as a net security provider in the Indian Ocean Region and diminished our moral leadership within the Global South. Beyond the strategic and reputational damage, the BJP government's missteps have inflicted tangible costs at home and abroad-leaving millions of Indians grappling with shortages of cooking gas, fertilisers and other essential commodities, destabilising diaspora Indians in West Asia, and exposing the nation to new vulnerabilities caused by a new strategic reality," it added.

Highlighting India's role as "credible interlocutor," Congress accused the BJP' s missteps of letting Pakistan mediate the ceasefire. The party alleged that the BJP's lack of initiative enabled Islamanad to "rehabilitate itself on the world stage."

"Equally concerning, the BJP government's missteps have led to Pakistan playing a role in mediating between the warring parties, despite India being better placed to serve as a credible interlocutor. This not only undermines the sustained efforts of successive Indian governments to diplomatically isolate Pakistan, but also affords Islamabad room to rehabilitate itself on the world stage, and thereby whitewash its track record of fomenting regional instability through support for cross-border terrorism targeting India, Afghanistan, and Iran. Pakistan positioning itself as a middleman in great-power competition in Asia may allow it leverage over India on crucial bilateral matters through third-parties," the party said.

The party, condemning Prime Minister Narendra Modi's alleged "partisan support for a far-right government," asked for a collaborative approach from the BJP to restore India's role as a peacemaker.

"These geoeconomic and geopolitical costs were avoidable, and stem directly from Prime Minister Modi's partisan support for a far-right government on the eve of a war and national elections, and overall ideological internationalism. This foreign policy mis-adventurism is in contravention to the counsel of India's foreign policy establishment, and foreign policy consensus adhered to since 1947. The BJP government has consistently subordinated the national interest to electoral and ideological considerations. This must be urgently eschewed," it said.

"The Government of India must take the Opposition into confidence and lead 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 added.

This comes after US President Donald Trump suspended the "bombing and attack" campaign on Iran, announcing a two-week double-sided ceasefire and saying that the 10-point proposal from Iran was workable.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said, "Based on conversations with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, of Pakistan, and wherein they requested that I hold off the destructive force being sent tonight to Iran, and subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz, I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks. This will be a double-sided CEASEFIRE!" Trump said. (ANI)