Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has reached the limelight after he voiced his support to the Indian restrained reaction to the current crisis in the West Asia involving the US-Israel bloc and Iran. His comments have even attracted political interests in which the Bharatiya Janata Party (bjp) has capitalized on his position to make a jibe at the Congress party.
Tharoor referred to this kind of statecraft of India as an instance of responsible statecraft and stressed that calmness in such a combustible geopolitical context is a sign of strength and not weakness. In his opinion, nations such as India ought to be involved in positive diplomacy in de-escalating tensions instead of being involved with fuelling them. He proposed that India could be proactive in terms of fostering peace and dialogue and assist the two parties in finding a mechanism of de-escalating the conflict. Countries such as ours are not expected to be silent and summon peace and give both parties a chance to withdraw before it is too late, he observed.
Although he supports how the entire government handled the situation, Tharoor also indicated that India would have acted quicker in terms of expressing condolences after the alleged murder of the Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He explained that there is a difference between condemnation and condolence and that giving condolences is merely a show of sympathy and does not necessarily have to be an act of political support.
His moderate comments, on the one hand, in favor of the government, and on the other, the recommendation of improvements have not gone without discussion on political platforms, and have indicated the difference of opinion on the Indian diplomacy in delicate international affairs.