Amid ongoing tensions with his party over defence of the government's broad stances after Operation Sindoor, senior Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Thursday asked if working in national interest was anti-party.
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Tharoor, a four-time MP from Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala who is leading a multi-party delegation to the US, was speaking to a news agency in Washington.
Dismissing talks of switching over to the BJP, Tharoor said, “I think anybody who sort of considers that working in the national interest is some sort of anti-party activity really needs to question themselves rather than us."
Tharoor faced the Congress’ ire recently for saying that Operation Sindoor marked the first time when the Indian military had crossed the Line of Control and the international border to counter terrorism.
To counter Tharoor, the Congress fielded former MP Udit Raj, who called the former UN Under-Secretary-General a "super spokesperson for the BJP government”.
Congress media cell chief Pawan Khera also came out and questioned Tharoor's line citing past instances of surgical strikes under the then Congress-led UPA government.
Takes question from scribe son
Shashi Tharoor, replying to a question by his journalist son regarding whether government interlocutors sought evidence of Pakistan’s culpability in the Pahalgam attack, said India would not have conducted Operation Sindoor without convincing evidence. “That shouldn’t be allowed. This is my son,” Tharoor said laughing, during an interaction at the Council on Foreign Relations when his son Ishaan Tharoor, global affairs columnist with the Washington Post, stood up to ask him a question.
Khera also posted a screen shot from Tharoor's own book on PM Narendra Modi where he had previously claimed that the “NDA government exploited military operations for political gains”.
Meanwhile, the delegation said it had received “total support and solidarity” from US lawmakers in India’s fight against terrorism.
Responding to a question on the possibility of talks with Pakistan, Tharoor said, “We will not engage in dialogue with people who are pointing a gun at our heads.”
The delegation also met US Vice-President JD Vance. Tharoor described the meeting as “a comprehensive discussion covering a wide array of critical issues, from counter-terrorism efforts to enhancing technological cooperation. A truly constructive and productive exchange for strengthening India-US strategic partnership, with a great meeting of minds.”
BJP MP Tejasvi Surya, also in the US as part of the multi-party delegation, took a swipe at Bilawal Bhutto’s UN delegation, calling it “a devil preaching peace”.
English (US) ·