Rahul renews ‘compromised PM’ attack after US sinks Iranian warship

New Delhi: Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Thursday escalated his attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing the government of surrendering India’s strategic autonomy at a time when the US-Iran conflict has spilled into the Indian Ocean, India’s immediate maritime neighbourhood.

In a strongly worded post on X, Gandhi wrote: “The world has entered a volatile phase. Stormy seas lie ahead. India’s oil supplies are under threat, with more than 40 per cent of our imports transiting the Strait of Hormuz. The situation is even worse for LPG and LNG. The conflict has reached our backyard, with an Iranian warship sunk in the Indian Ocean. Yet the Prime Minister has said nothing. At a moment like this, we need a steady hand at the wheel. Instead, India has a compromised PM who has surrendered our strategic autonomy.”

The world has entered a volatile phase. Stormy seas lie ahead.

India’s oil supplies are under threat, with more than 40% of our imports transiting the Strait of Hormuz. The situation is even worse for LPG and LNG.

The conflict has reached our backyard, with an Iranian warship…

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) March 5, 2026

The remarks come barely 24 hours after a US Navy fast attack submarine fired a single Mk-48 torpedo that sank the Iranian Navy frigate IRIS Dena in international waters south of Sri Lanka on March 4. 

The strike killed at least 87 Iranian sailors and marked the first time since World War II that an American submarine has sunk an enemy surface vessel with a torpedo.

The Iranian warship had recently participated in naval exercises in the Bay of Bengal and was returning through the Indian Ocean when it was attacked.

Roughly 40-55 per cent of the country’s crude oil imports transit the Strait of Hormuz, while the bulk of LPG and a significant share of LNG supplies also depend on the same chokepoint, now effectively disrupted by the widening conflict.

Despite the sinking occurring in India’s strategic backyard and the ship having just operated in the region, the Prime Minister has so far made no public statement on the incident. 

The Ministry of External Affairs has only reacted to unrelated claims, rejecting as “baseless” allegations that the US used Indian ports to carry out strikes against Iran.

This is not Gandhi’s first use of the “compromised PM” charge. He had earlier deployed the same phrase after a US Supreme Court ruling on tariffs, accusing Modi of being unable to renegotiate trade deals in India’s interest.

While the “compromised PM” slogan rocked Parliament’s Budget session, Youth Congress leaders took it too far by holding shirtless protest at the India AI Impact Summit.