PM Modi remains 'maun' when required to speak: Sibal slams govt's stance on West Asia conflict

New Delhi, Mar 5 (PTI) Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Thursday lashed out at the government's stand on the West Asia conflict and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi remains "maun" (silent) when he is required to speak out while gives long speeches when not needed.

Sibal cited examples of Jawaharlal Nehru and Manmohan Singh to highlight how Indian prime ministers in the past spoke out to uphold values of the country.

"History teaches us a lot of things. In 1953, it was Pandit Nehru who opposed the occupation of Russian forces in Iran and said that the rights of the Iranian people must be respected and the forces must move out. That's the courage of a PM who was close to Russia and yet made that statement," Sibal said at a press conference here.

"In 1994, it was P V Narasimha Rao who sent Dinesh Singh to Iran to persuade Ali Khamenei to not support a resolution on Kashmir that Pakistan wanted to move in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, which was eventually not moved. That is what a strong PM does," the former Union minister said.

Sibal also recalled that in 2006, the US wanted India to support the resolution in the IAEA for curtailing the rights of the Iranian people.

"The US said 'if you don't do that, the nuclear deal will be in jeopardy'. But (then) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said 'nothing doing, we will not be guided by someone else's interest, we will be guided by our own interest'," he said.

These were the PMs who spoke when there was a need to speak and remained silent when it was not necessary to speak, he said.

"Our PM doesn't speak when it is needed and speaks when it is not required, that is his trait," the independent Rajya Sabha MP said.

While attacking the government over the US submarine sinking an Iranian warship in international waters off Sri Lanka's coast, Sibal said they were defenceless and so many people were killed.

"We haven't spoke a word. The PM is quiet. In Gaza, 72,000 people died, girls were killed in an Iran school, and all we say is that we have nothing to say. Isn't this sad for a great country like ours -- mother of democracy," he said.

"We cannot orphan our democracy, we have always stood for values. Diplomacy operates at two levels-- morality and self interest. And sometimes value system is more important than self interest," he added.

Sibal said US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Modi have one thing in common-- the American leader announced going to war on social media without consulting the US Congress and similarly the PM doesn't discusses such things in Parliament.

His remarks came a day after a US submarine sank an Iranian warship in international waters off Sri Lanka's coast when it was returning after participating in the Milan naval exercise, a multilateral wargame hosted by India.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, confirming the strike, said at a Pentagon media briefing that it was the first sinking of an enemy warship by a torpedo since World War II.

The incident marks a major escalation of the conflict between the US and Iran outside of the Persian Gulf and throws up questions relating to maritime security in the Indian Ocean that is largely considered as the backyard of the Indian Navy.

The US and Israel launched military strikes on Iran on February 28, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Following the military offensive, Iran has carried out a wave of attacks mainly targeting Israel and American military bases in several Gulf countries, including the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

In the last few days, the conflict has widened significantly with attacks and counter-attacks by both sides.

India has called for resolving the conflict through dialogue and diplomacy. PTI ASK ASK KVK KVK