India’s main opposition parties condemned the Israeli aggression in Iran over the weekend and demanded the ultra-right-wing government of Narendra Modi take a clear stance on the issue.
Unlike the central government in India, led by the Hindu-supremacist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), most of India’s major opposition parties condemned Israel’s unprovoked aggression against Iran on Friday. The chief ministers of its two southern states, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, also joined in the condemnation of Israel’s actions.
Statements issued by the opposition called on the Modi government and the international community to take a clear stand and hold Israel accountable for its repeated violations of international law and reckless actions that endanger peace in the region and across the world.
In the early hours of Friday, June 13, Israel launched a set of military strikes in Tehran and several other Iranian cities, mostly targeting civilian locations. Israel claimed the unprovoked attacks on Iran aimed to destroy its nuclear program. More than 200 Iranians – including some of its top military officials and nuclear scientists – have been killed in the attacks to date, which continued over the weekend.
Iran has since retaliated to Israeli aggression and launched missiles and drones inside Israel, mostly targeting its military installations.
India’s BJP is widely seen as ideologically aligned with Israel and has been accused of deepening strategic and economic cooperation at the expense of India’s traditional stance of anti-imperialism and pro-Palestinian solidarity.
India’s failure to condemn Israel’s crimes
In his first – and so far the only – official reaction to the Israeli attacks on Iran on Friday morning, Prime Minister Modi mentioned his conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and expressed India’s concerns about the situation without even referring to the Israeli strikes on Iran. He also expressed hope for an “early restoration of peace and stability in the region” in a post on X.
India’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MEA) had issued a statement earlier. It also failed to mention the fact of the Israeli strikes. Instead it talked about India’s friendly relations with both Israel and Iran and emphasized the need for dialogue and diplomacy.
Later, India also distanced itself from a statement issued by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which “strongly condemned” the Israeli strikes inside Iran. India’s MEA claimed it “did not participate in the discussions” which led to the SCO statement and that the contents do not reflect India’s position on the matter.
Both India and Iran are members of the SCO along with China, Russia, Pakistan and Central Asian countries. The SCO is a regional organization with a mandate ranging from mutual trade and development to regional peace and security.
The SCO statement Saturday mentioned Israel’s deliberate targeting of Iranian civilians and civilian infrastructure, calling the attacks violations of the UN charter and other international laws.
The Israeli strikes “constitute an infringement on Iran’s sovereignty, cause damage to regional and international security, and pose serious risks to global peace and stability,” the SCO statement said.
India’s left leaders stand up to Israel’s rogue behavior
The failure of the Indian government to take a clear position on Israeli policies of war in the region has provoked the country’s opposition parties to express their dissenting views in public.
In a rare move, chief minister of the left government in Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan issued a public statement condemning the Israeli aggression. In a post on X, Vijayan said that “the entire international community must speak out to end the reckless and unlawful aggression of Israel against Iran.”
The entire international community must speak out to end the reckless and unlawful aggression of Israel against Iran. Backed by the complicit support of the imperialist power bloc led by the United States, Israel continues its brazen and belligerent onslaught across West Asia.…
— Pinarayi Vijayan (@pinarayivijayan) June 14, 2025
Vijayan, a member of the politburo of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) declared that “backed by the complicit support of the imperialist power block led by the US, Israel continues its brazen and belligerent onslaught across West Asia.”
Hinting at the central government’s reluctance to take a clear position, Vijayan asked every peace-loving person to speak up against the Israeli atrocities and demand accountability from this “rogue state.”
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, of the social democratic Dravida Munnetra Khadgam party (DMK), also called Israeli attacks on Iran a “reckless act of aggression” which can cause wider conflict. He demanded that Israel’s violent path which includes genocide in Gaza, continuing for over 20 months now, must be condemned and “the world must push for restraint, justice, and meaningful diplomacy.”
Generally chief ministers of Indian states do not comment on foreign policy issues, which are primarily in the domain of the central government in Delhi.
Read more: The illegal attack on Iran
Opposition parties oppose Israeli aggression
In addition to the opposition leaders, parties also condemned Israeli aggression against the friendly country of Iran.
In a statement issued by its Politboro, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) called Israel a “rogue state” for its repeated “launch of attacks on countries in West Asia at will and violating international laws and conventions.”
CPI (M) claimed that Israel neither has the capability nor the confidence to carry out these repeated acts of aggressions in the region without the “tacit or direct” backing by the US.
Noting that Israel has been carrying out genocide in Gaza for the last 20 months CPI (M) claimed that the attacks on Iran were motivated to eliminate “any potential challenge to its dominance in the region.”
It demanded the government of India “add its voice to the global condemnation” of Israeli attacks on Iran and “actively urge Israel to cease its military operation immediately.”
Condemning India’s absence during the voting on a resolution in the UN General Assembly last week demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, CPI (M) also called on the BJP-led government to “end its tacit support for Israel and take a clear stand for peace and justice in West Asia.”
Similar statements were issued by other major communist parties in India; Communist Party of India (CPI), and Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation.
“The far right [Benjamin] Netanyahu regime [in Israel], facing increasing global isolation and domestic discontent amid the ongoing genocidal war on Gaza, is now attempting to widen the conflict and externalize its crisis by targeting Iran and threatening Lebanon, Yemen, Syria and beyond,” the CPI (ML) Liberation said.
“The Indian government must break its silence and condemn this attack unequivocally, aligning with our long-standing foreign policy based on non-alignment, peace, and respect for sovereignty,” the CPI demanded.
While “unequivocally condemning” the Israeli strikes inside Iran, calling them an infringement on Iran’s sovereignty, the chief spokesperson of the INC, Jairam Ramesh, demanded that “India must speak clearly” on the issue and use its diplomatic leverage to diffuse tension.
