ndia’s Revealing Reluctance to Condemn US Aggression on Venezuela!
P J James
Modi government is showcasing India as the ‘Mother of Democracy’. However, India’s reluctance to condemn Trump’s blatant violation of ‘international democracy’ is very revealing. For instance, except India, all the other four founders of BRICS have already issued statements unequivocally and resolutely condemning Trump’s illegal and “unacceptable” military strike against Venezuela and abduction of its President Maduro along with his wife. On the other hand, after a day of silence, India issued a statement just expressing it’s “deep concern” on the situation without any reference to the illegal aggression on Venezuela by US in violation of all international laws.
For, Trump’s aggression on Venezuela is a flagrant violation of Article 2(4) of the UN Charter which is considered as the cornerstone of international law, obligating all UN members to refrain from the threat or use of force against another state’s territorial integrity or political independence, or in any manner inconsistent with the UN’s fundamental purposes. This core principle was adopted following WWII to prevent the horrors of colonial wars, by promoting peaceful dispute resolution, covering broad actions beyond full-scale conflict to maintain global peace and sovereignty. And, by unilaterally attacking Venezuela and capturing its President, through what is codenamed “Operation Absolute Resolve”, US imperialism under Trump is setting the stage for re-establishing it’s hegemony over the entire Americas, by invoking the colonial-era Monroe Doctrine.
In the past, for instance, during the 1989 Panama of invasion by US imperialism called ” Operation Just Cause”, in tune with India’s Non-alignment policy, along with then External Affairs Minister I.K. Gujral, the Indian Parliament had condemned the US aggression. India had this consistent position based on the principles of peaceful co-existence during the Cold War era. As such India had consistently opposed US interventions in Guatemala in 1954 and Grenada in 1983. Today, all these progressive traditions of India are reversed following the ascendancy of global neo-fascism.
Of course, Modi regime’s approach to the US invasion of Venezuela is not an isolated one. It is repeatedly reflected in India’s Islamophobic approach to the ongoing Zionist genocide in Palestine. At a time when all the oppressed peoples and nations of the world are unanimously condemning US imperialist-fascist aggression on Venezuela, India’s clinging on to the apron strings of neo-fascist Trump is paving the for its isolation from the comity of nations.
