India's Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, on behalf of the Indian government, signed the book of condolence for Iran's late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Thursday. The 86-year-old Ali Khamenei, who had ruled Iran since 1989, was killed in a joint military operation carried out by the United States and Israel on Saturday.
India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri’s visit marks India’s first reaction to the killing of Ali Khamenei.
Misri’s move has come five days after Khamenei’s death. During this period, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held phone conversations with several leaders from the Middle East, but he has not yet made any public statement on Khamenei’s killing.
Meanwhile, the government has been under continuous attack from the opposition for maintaining silence over the incident. Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi also criticised the Modi government, saying on Tuesday that its silence over the targeted killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was “not neutrality but an attempt to evade responsibility,” raising serious questions about the direction and credibility of India’s foreign policy.
