February 26, 2026

Press Release

Statement condemning the visit of the Prime Minister of India to Israel and his address to the Knesset

The National Secretariat of the Communist Party of India issued the following statement today (February 26, 2026):

The Communist Party of India strongly condemns the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Israel and his address to the Knesset, held at a time when relentless military operations continue in Gaza Strip and violence and forcible displacement are intensifying in the West Bank.

This visit cannot be projected as a routine diplomatic engagement. It amounts to a political endorsement of a government whose actions have resulted in the killing of tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians and the large-scale destruction of homes, hospitals and essential infrastructure. While the Prime Minister expressed condolences for Israeli lives lost on 7 October 2023, his speech in the Knesset was marked by a disturbing silence on the catastrophic human suffering inflicted upon the Palestinian people. Selective concern for civilian lives empties the claim that “the killing of civilians cannot be justified under any circumstances” of all moral content.

By speaking of “shared values” and an expanded “strategic partnership” by equating Israel’s actions in the occupied Palestinian territories with India’s legitimate struggle against terrorism represents a dangerous and false moral equivalence. It trivialises the reality of prolonged occupation, collective punishment and systematic discrimination faced by the Palestinian people, and lowers the ethical standing of India’s own security concerns.

Reports that India is engaging with parallel and unilateral initiatives such as the so-called “Board of Peace” being promoted by US President Donald Trump further demonstrate a dangerous willingness to bypass UN-mandated frameworks and dilute the internationally recognised rights of the Palestinian people, including their right to self-determination.

The CPI is deeply concerned that the core focus of this visit has been the further expansion of defence cooperation, arms co-production and commercial agreements. India has already emerged as one of the largest buyers of Israeli military equipment. Every expansion of this relationship directly strengthens a military-industrial complex that profits from occupation and from the repeated use of overwhelming force against a civilian population. The claim that this partnership is “values-based” is therefore wholly untenable.

The Communist Party of India demands that the Government of India immediately correct this dangerous and immoral course. By choosing open political alignment with an occupying and terrorist power, the present government is not exercising strategic autonomy. It is choosing the side of the oppressor. In doing so, it betrays the anti-colonial and internationalist legacy of Indian people and abandons India’s long-standing commitment to justice, peace and solidarity with all oppressed peoples.

History will not remember this visit as pragmatic diplomacy. It will record it as a shameful act of complicity in one of the gravest and most prolonged injustices of our time.

Sd/-

(Roykutty)

Office Secretary

Communist Party of India

Central Office 

New Delhi

Tele: 011 23235546

e-mail: cpiofindia@gmail.com