India's Congress Party Flags Strategic Alignment Risks in Modi’s Israel Visit as West Asia Conflict Deepens

India’s main opposition party, the Indian National Congress (INC), on February 28, 2026 issued a detailed foreign policy statement criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Israel amid escalating regional tensions, arguing that the timing of the trip risks conveying political alignment during a period of active hostilities in West Asia.

File Photo of INC Leadership; Via: Official Handle

In a statement released by its Foreign Affairs Department in New Delhi, the Congress said India’s external engagement must remain anchored in long-standing diplomatic principles rooted in “Vasudhaiva Kutumbaka (‘the world is one family’), Mahatma Gandhi’s doctrine of ahimsa (non-violence), Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s policy of non-alignment,” and constitutional commitments under Article 51 that mandate “respect for international law and treaty obligations,” including the United Nations Charter, the Geneva Conventions and international human rights frameworks. 

The party said these traditions have historically guided India’s global role, citing its interventions against apartheid in South Africa, participation in the Neutral Nations Repatriation Commission during the Korean War, leadership within the Non-Aligned Movement, and contributions to humanitarian relief and United Nations peacekeeping operations.

Against this backdrop, the Congress expressed “deep concern” over Modi’s February 25–26 visit to Israel, stating it occurred “at a moment of heightened tensions, a breakout of hostilities and the palpable risk of wider conflict in West Asia.” 

The statement argued that the visit “creates the perception of a political endorsement of military escalation,” which it described as “deeply antithetical to India’s historic commitment to a rules-based international order and the United Nations Charter,” particularly provisions prohibiting the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of states and requiring peaceful settlement of disputes.

The party warned that what it called a “perception of partisan alignment and tacit endorsement of unprovoked aggression” could risk “compromising India’s calibrated position,” adding that such a shift could carry “grave strategic consequences” given India’s extensive civilisational, economic, energy and geopolitical ties not only with Israel but also with Iran, Palestine and the broader West Asian region. It said the government “needs to be mindful” of these interconnected relationships as tensions intensify.

The Congress further argued that perceived approval of actions undermining sovereignty elsewhere could weaken India’s own diplomatic arguments regarding territorial integrity, stating that such positioning “undermines India’s own principled position on Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir.” 

To preserve “moral authority and strategic credibility,” the statement said India must apply “uniformly and without exception—the very principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and peaceful resolution of disputes” that it invokes in defence of national interests.

The opposition party also described the visit as “particularly ill-timed,” suggesting it risked being interpreted as political signalling ahead of elections. Drawing a comparison with the 2019 “Howdy Modi” event in Houston, the statement said that episode had been widely perceived as blurring “the line between state diplomacy and partisan political signalling during the U.S. electoral cycle,” warning that diplomatic engagement must avoid conflation with domestic political messaging. 

“Relationships are between nations, not between individual leaders or ideologically aligned political parties,” it added.

Despite its criticism, the Congress emphasised that it “values and seeks to deepen India’s partnership with Israel, as it does with Iran, Palestine and other nations in West Asia,” while stressing that engagement must remain balanced and pursued with prudence. 

The statement said diplomacy should advance India’s strategic and economic interests while safeguarding “the nation’s civilisational and constitutional principles” and maintaining commitment to a rules-based international order.

The statement comes amid heightened geopolitical tensions following Israeli and U.S. military actions targeting Iran and widening regional security concerns, placing India’s West Asia diplomacy under renewed scrutiny as political debate intensifies at home over how New Delhi should balance strategic partnerships with its traditional posture of strategic autonomy and non-alignment.