- Monday, April 29, 2024
The leader, who is seeking his third straight mandate, said during the release of his BJP’s poll manifesto that the country needed a strong government even more in times of uncertainty.
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi expressed concern over the threat posed to global stability by the attacks that Iran carried out against Israel on Saturday (13) saying the need for a stable government becomes even bigger at a time when the world is witnessing “uncertain times”.
The leader said this at the release of his Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) manifesto for the upcoming general elections in India at the party’s headquarters in New Delhi on Sunday (14).
The Iranian air strike was unprecedented and comes less than two weeks after a suspected air strike by Israel that destroyed Tehran’s diplomatic presence in Damascus in Syria, killing a senior commander. It was the first time that Iran launched a direct military strike on Israel, despite decades of enmity between the two countries.
Read: India’s Jaishankar dials Israel, Iran foreign ministers after Tehran’s air strikes
The Indian PM, who did not mention any country, said a cloud of uncertainty is hovering over the world today and a war-like situation is confronting it.
“The world is tense. In such times of crisis, the security of Indians living in these regions is our priority. When such tensions prevail across the world, it becomes all the more necessary to have a strong and stable government with a full majority – such a government that makes the country economically prosperous, that takes the country towards ‘Viksit Bharat’ (Developed India) swiftly and the BJP is determined for this. BJP’s manifesto gives a guarantee for once such government,” he said, according to a report by the Hindustan Times.
Read: India calls for peace as Iran attacks Israel: ‘Return to path of diplomacy’
Modi is likely to win the seven-phase national election that will kick off in India on April 19. A conglomeration of opposition parties under the alliance name of INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) is looking to prevent his BJP from winning power for the third consecutive term.
Israel though said the Iranian attack was “foiled” with hundreds of missiles and drones being intercepted by its and its allied forces.
The latest attack, which could lead to a full-fledged war in the Middle East, comes at a time when Israel is already fighting the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza strip, causing massive casualties.
Modi, who advised Russian president Vladimir Putin against Moscow’s ongoing war in Moscow, saying this is not an era of war, had condemned as one of the world’s first leaders Hamas’s attacks against Israel in October last year. However, the stance came under criticism, given India’s historical stance on Israel-Palestine conflicts and it appeared that New Delhi recalibrated its approach to the conflict over time.
On Sunday, the Indian external affairs ministry expressed serious concerns over the escalating hostilities and sought immediate de-escalation. Its foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar had talks with both his Israeli and Iranian counterparts over the telephone to discuss the situation and the Indian minister also raised the situation with 17 Indians who were on board a ship with Israeli links that Iran seized off the coast of the UAE on Saturday.
The ministry also said India was closely monitoring the evolving situation.
“Our embassies in the region are in close touch with Indian community. It is vital that security and stability are maintained in the region,” he added.
