Congress parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday questioned the Centre’s response to the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, stating that the government’s silence is “not neutral but an abdication”, and warning that it risks signalling tacit approval of the incident.In an opinion piece, Sonia said India’s lack of a clear response to what she termed a “targeted assassination” reflected poorly on its commitment to sovereignty and international law. She noted that Tehran confirmed on March 1 that Khamenei had been killed in coordinated strikes carried out a day earlier by the US and Israel, calling the development a grave rupture in contemporary international relations.“The killing of a sitting head of state in the midst of ongoing negotiations marks a grave rupture… Yet, beyond the shock of the event, what stands out equally starkly is New Delhi’s silence,” she wrote, adding that such silence “signals tacit endorsement of this tragedy”.Sonia said Prime Minister Narendra Modi initially condemned Iran’s retaliatory strike on the UAE but did not address the sequence of events leading to it. She said subsequent remarks expressing “deep concern” and calls for “dialogue and diplomacy” overlooked the fact that diplomatic engagement had been underway before the strikes.Raising concerns over the direction of India’s foreign policy, Sonia said the absence of a clear stance on the killing of a foreign leader undermines credibility. She also pointed to the timing of Modi’s recent visit to Israel, where he reiterated support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, noting that it came less than 48 hours before the strikes on Iran.“At a time when much of the Global South, along with major powers and India’s partners in BRICS such as Russia and China, have kept their distance, India’s high-profile political endorsement without moral clarity marks a visible and troubling departure,” she said, calling for a discussion on the issue during the ongoing Budget session.The developments follow large-scale airstrikes by the US and Israel on February 28 across multiple Iranian cities, targeting military command centres, air defence systems and key infrastructure. The strikes led to the death of Khamenei and several senior officials, with explosions reported in Tehran and other areas.Iran responded with missile and drone attacks targeting US assets and allies across the region, including Israel and Gulf countries, escalating tensions and raising concerns for civilians and expatriates.Separately, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said the PM must clarify whether India supports the assassination of a head of state as part of the global order. In a post on X, he said both the unilateral attacks on Iran and Iran’s retaliatory strikes must be condemned.“Silence now diminishes India’s standing in the world,” he said, adding that escalating hostilities between the US, Israel and Iran risk pushing an already fragile region into wider conflict, affecting crores of people, including nearly a crore Indians.He said attacks that violate sovereignty would worsen the crisis and stressed that dialogue and restraint remain the only viable path. “India must be morally clear… Our foreign policy is rooted in sovereignty and peaceful resolution of disputes, and it must remain consistent,” he said, reiterating that the PM should state his position clearly.