Shashi Tharoor has cautioned against reacting rashly to the scandalous comments attributed to Donald Trump, arguing that India must not overreact to what he termed as a minor social media tweet. Raising the matter in Parliament, the Congress MP asserted that an aggressive response would not suit the Indian diplomatic manner and maturity.
Tharoor made this comment following a Trump posting of a transcript of a conservative talk show on Michael Savage. During the debate, reference to countries like India and China was made using derogatory language such as the term hellhole, when it comes to immigration issues in the United States.
In response to the comments, Tharoor pointed out that such comments should not be strongly responded to by the office bearer. He maintained that India, being an emerging world superpower, ought to keep calm and not get involved in useless scandals elicited by social media commentaries. In his view, it would be a sign of confidence and diplomatic maturity to disregard such remarks.
These remarks were a part of a wider discussion about immigration policies in which it was alleged that people were travelling to the US to obtain citizenship to their children. The comments were also generalisations regarding the immigrant communities and have been criticised as being insensitive and misleading.
Although the problem has elicited controversy in both political and lay discussions, the position of Tharoor manifests a view of preferring widely diplomatic over reactive actions. His statements emphasize the need to have attention on the substantive international relations instead of getting into rhetoric-driven conflicts.