PM Modi chairs late-night CCS meeting amid Middle East tensions, condemns Iran's strikes in call with UAE President

PM Narendra Modi on Sunday chaired a vital meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on Sunday night.

This high-level meeting on security and strategic matters of the country included Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who are all its members.

Other officials present at the meeting included National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri. The meeting took place soon after PM Modi returned to Delhi after a two-day tour of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry.

The safety of Indians stranded en masse in various airports across the Middle East due to airspace closures, as well as those living in Iran and Israel is reportedly the key focus of the late-night meeting, government sources told PTI. They added that the meeting was also likely to decide India's possible response, should the situation in the Middle East deteriorate further.

This also comes after Modi phoned UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and condemned Iran's attacks on the UAE, which are a part of Tehran's response to US-Israel airstrikes that killed its Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

"Strongly condemned the attacks on the UAE and condoled the loss of lives in these attacks. India stands in solidarity with the UAE in these difficult times," he wrote in an X post.

"Thanked him for taking care of the Indian community living in the UAE. We support de-escalation, regional peace, security and stability," Modi added.

Meanwhile, the tensions in the Middle East have also spilt over into India, with news of Khamenei's death sparking protests in several parts of India earlier on Sunday.

Members of the Shia community in parts of Uttar Pradesh and J&K held condolence marches, while a three-day mourning period was declared in Bengaluru's Alipur village. Protest marches have also broken out in a few places.

Congress, which had attacked Modi for his earlier silence on the assassination of Khamenei—calling it a "surrender of moral authority"—later released an elaborate statement condemning the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader.

"Sovereignty is not conditional, and political legitimacy cannot be manufactured through force," Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge wrote in the post.