Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday reached out to Sultan Haitham bin Tarik of Oman and Crown Prince of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, expressing concern over attacks on their countries during the ongoing conflict in West Asia and discussing the welfare and security of the Indian community residing there.
“The prime minister spoke to two important leaders from the Gulf region on Tuesday afternoon. He had a phone call with the Sultan of Oman, Sultan Haitham bin Tarik, and also had a conversation with the Crown Prince of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah,” an official said.
The phone calls took place in the wake of a coordinated offensive launched against Iran by the United States and Israel, in which the Islamic country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed. In retaliation, Iran has fired drones and missiles at Israel and US military installations around the Gulf, as well as at the global business and aviation hubs of Dubai and Doha.
The prime minister has also spoken to the heads of Jordan, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel. He condemned the attacks on Gulf nations, citing violations of their sovereignty and territorial integrity, but did not comment on the US-Israel strikes on Iran, which Tehran has likewise described as breaches of its sovereignty.
New Delhi has not expressed the same degree of solidarity with Iran that the Prime Minister conveyed to the rulers of the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi must clarify whether he supports the assassination of a head of state as a means of defining the global order. He added that both the unilateral attacks on Iran and Iran’s retaliatory strikes on other Middle Eastern nations must be condemned.