The exchange followed an article by the Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson in The Indian Express, in which she argued that India had failed to speak with sufficient moral clarity on Gaza and had moved away from its long-held support for the Palestinian cause. The BJP rejected the charge, saying the Congress was trying to frame international relations through what it called “vote bank politics”.
BJP leaders said the Congress had developed a habit of questioning the government’s strategic choices whenever sensitive foreign policy issues were involved. The party argued that India’s position on West Asia had remained guided by national interest, humanitarian concern, counter-terrorism considerations and support for a negotiated two-state settlement. It said the Congress was selectively invoking Palestine while ignoring the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel, which triggered the war.
Gandhi’s article said the humanitarian devastation in Gaza required a stronger public response from New Delhi. She contended that India’s historic position had rested on solidarity with Palestine, opposition to occupation and support for peaceful coexistence between Israel and a sovereign Palestinian state. She also said India’s silence had become increasingly difficult to justify as several governments and international institutions had spoken out over civilian suffering in Gaza.
The BJP’s counter-attack placed the issue squarely in the arena of domestic politics. Party functionaries said the Congress was trying to signal to specific voter groups instead of presenting a coherent foreign policy alternative. They accused the opposition party of treating matters of war, diplomacy and national security as extensions of electoral mobilisation.
The Congress, however, has maintained that its criticism is rooted in India’s diplomatic tradition. The party has repeatedly argued that New Delhi’s older approach combined relations with Israel with visible support for Palestinian rights. It has said that questioning civilian deaths, displacement and restrictions on aid in Gaza cannot be equated with hostility to Israel or softness on terrorism.
India’s official position has continued to include support for a negotiated two-state solution, release of hostages, humanitarian access and a return to dialogue. At the same time, the government has strengthened defence, technology, agriculture and intelligence cooperation with Israel over the past decade. That shift has given the opposition a political opening to argue that New Delhi’s balance has tilted too far towards Israel.
The Gaza war has become one of the most divisive foreign policy issues in domestic politics since 2023. Opposition parties have accused the government of muting India’s traditional pro-Palestine voice, while the BJP has insisted that the country must respond to the conflict through strategic realism rather than old ideological templates. The debate has sharpened as global pressure over Gaza’s humanitarian conditions has intensified.
The war began after Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel killed about 1,200 people and led to the capture of more than 250 hostages. Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has since caused large-scale destruction, mass displacement and tens of thousands of Palestinian deaths. International agencies have warned for months about food insecurity, damaged hospitals, collapsed sanitation systems and the long-term impact on children.
Gandhi’s intervention came at a time when foreign policy disputes are increasingly spilling into domestic political messaging. The Congress has sought to project the government as abandoning non-alignment, strategic autonomy and moral diplomacy. The BJP, in response, has portrayed the Congress as trapped in an older worldview and unwilling to acknowledge terrorism, security partnerships and shifting geopolitical realities.
