Iran war: Jairam Ramesh calls PM Modi’s Israel visit ‘shameful’, says he showed ‘moral cowardice’

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Saturday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Israel after Israel and the United States launched a joint military strike on Iran.In a post on X, Ramesh said, “Two days after Mr. Modi celebrated his visit to Israel, Israel and the US have begun their joint assault on Iran. This was fully expected given their military build-up in the last few months. Mr. Modi nevertheless chose to go to Israel, where he displayed the highest moral cowardice. He declared that India stood with Israel and got himself an award for saying so. This Israel visit was shameful, and it is even more so in light of the war that has been launched by two of Mr. Modi's ‘good friends’.” Israel and the United States launched a joint military strike on Iran on Saturday, codenamed Operation Roaring Lion. The strikes targeted military sites, missile production facilities and areas near the office of Iran’s supreme leader Khamenei.Several ministries in southern Tehran were reportedly struck, and residents heard powerful blasts. Israel declared a nationwide state of emergency, moved hospitals underground and activated sirens. Iran, Israel and Iraq closed their airspace and suspended flights. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had concluded his visit to Israel on Thursday. During the visit, India and Israel agreed to elevate their relationship to a special strategic partnership. The two sides signed 27 agreements in areas including innovation, cultural exchange, manufacturing and artificial intelligence.PM Modi and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed cooperation in artificial intelligence, quantum computing, economic and security collaboration. The prime minister also said that India and Israel would soon finalise a mutually beneficial free trade agreement and announced a critical and emerging technology partnership.