New Delhi: Leader of opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday (March 24) accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of turning India’s foreign policy into his “personal foreign policy” and said everyone considers it as a “universal joke”. Taking aim at Modi’s speech in the Lok Sabha on Monday, Gandhi underlined that it was “irrelevant” and that the prime minister will not act in India’s interest but do what the US and Israel ask him to do.In his first remarks in parliament on the conflict in West Asia, Modi on Monday said that the Iran war has created “unprecedented challenges” for the country and warned that its economic and security implications are likely to persist.“Our foreign policy is Prime Minister Modi’s personal foreign policy. You can see the result of this. It’s a universal joke. Everybody considers it a universal joke. [US President] Donald Trump knows exactly what Modi can do and what he cannot do. So, if the PM is compromised, our foreign policy is compromised. It is obvious. Everybody can see that,” Gandhi told reporters outside parliament.He added: “He gave an irrelevant speech yesterday. He is India’s prime minister, it should appear that he is India’s prime minister. What is the position? There is no position at all. It is sad that the people will suffer, it has just begun. We will face issues concerning LPG, petrol, fertiliser and everything.”Modi spent much of his statement on Monday arguing that steps taken over the previous decade had positioned India to absorb the shock. In an almost identical speech in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, Modi conspicuously did not address the origins of the conflict which began on February 28 when the United States and Israel launched coordinated strikes on Iran, targeting Iran’s establishment, and killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Iran responded with retaliatory missile and drone attacks on US military bases, Israeli territory, and Gulf states, and moved to blockade the Strait of Hormuz. The closure has been described as the largest disruption to global energy supply ever, exceeding the 1970s energy crisis.In both Houses, no questions were allowed from the opposition despite demands for a discussion on the West Asia conflict since the beginning of the second half of the budget session. The government has called an all-party meeting on Wednesday (March 25) to discuss the conflict. Gandhi said that while a debate should be held, “Modi will do whatever the United States and Israel say.”“I will not be there because I have a programme in Kerala. An all-party meeting has been called, and there should be a debate. But you have made a structural mistake, you have completely dismantled the entire framework. Now it cannot be fixed. It will take a lot of time. And Modi cannot do it,” he added. “I can put that in writing for you that Modi will do whatever the United States and Israel say. He will not work in the interest of India or in the interest of farmers. He will act according to what the United States and Israel say.”Meanwhile, following Modi’s speech in the Rajya Sabha, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) staged a walkout after the opposition was not allowed to ask questions.In a statement, TMC MP Sagarika Ghose said that Modi had read out “same bureaucrats-drafted script on the West Asia crisis without offering any solutions” and the TMC attempted to raise a point of order through which MPs are permitted to seek clarifications.“Our point of order was not allowed. When the opposition’s voice is not allowed in parliament we have no option but to walk out,” she said.Ghose added: “Instead of allowing a discussion on West Asia on the floor of the House while parliament is in session, why is the Modi govt calling an all party meeting in a conference room? How long will this government avoid scrutiny.”Congress MP Jairam Ramesh said that like Prime Minister Modi’s speech in the Lok Sabha, in the Rajya Sabha too the opposition was not allowed to seek any clarifications.“As expected, it was a prepared text full of self-praise for all that he claims to have accomplished in the last eleven years,” he said.“There was also some hypocrisy when he called for cooperation from all states whose constitutional rights are continually being trampled upon; when he asked states to protect migrant workers after destroying MGNREGA which had been a lifeline for them during the Covid-19 pandemic; and when he called upon the states to implement the PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana which is founded on the National Food Security Act, 2013 that he had opposed as chief minister,” Ramesh added.