Gehlot questions India’s silence on the sinking of Iranian ship #IRISDen

Senior Congress leader and former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has questioned “India’s strategic silence” on the sinking of an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean despite the nation’s track record of independent stance and prominent position in the international arena.

Recalling the glorious past of our nation’s autonomous (sovereign) credentials and the independent voice, the 3-timer ex-CM stated in an ‘X’ post on Thursday: “Right from the era of NehruJi’s Non-Aligned Movement to the times of fearless diplomacy of IndiraJi, India has never been succumbed to the pressure from any superpower.”

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Also in the 2013 case of Devyani Khobragade an IFS, the then Indian Consul in the US, the erstwhile Dr Manmohan led Government at the Centre responded (to the US diplomats) in a befitting,”tit for tat” way”, Gehlot wrote.

India has never compromised over the matters of her sovereignty and the policies under pressure from any other country.

However, “Our strategic silence in the matter of sinking-in our sea-neighbourhood (by the US)-, of the Iranian warship #IRISDena which was our guest in the annual naval exercise #MILAN2026, raises questions on India’s goodwill. This is contrary to our values and tenets of “Atithi Devo Bhav” and also against the decorum of glory and traditions of our armed forces”.

“We are called the Net Security Providers in the Indian Ocean. Does India’s silence in the matter indicate diplomatic pressure? An emerging superpower (India) can not act as mute spectators to such violent incidents, in its territory(deep waters). If we are the real guards (net security providers) of the Indian Ocean, we should ensure full security and safety of our guests and keep our sovereignty intact”, he said.

Gehlot has also shared his party colleague and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi’s concerns- quoting from the latter’s another tweet post that underlined possible threat to India’s oil supply and accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of surrendering our strategic autonomy.

He quoted from Gandhi’s post “The world has entered a volatile phase. Stormy seas lie ahead.

India’s oil supplies are under threat, with more than 40 percent 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”, the two leaders shared.

“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,” they wrote in the shared tweet.