Tharoor denies violating party line, but remains unapologetic over his stance on Operation Sindoor

Senior Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor on Saturday reiterated that there should be no political differences on issues concerning national interest. Tharoor said he has never violated the party’s declared positions in Parliament, except on Operation Sindoor, for which he asserted that he remains “unapologetic” about his stance.

Speaking at the Kerala Literature Festival in Kozhikode on Saturday, Tharoor asserted that his stance on Operation Sindoor was his only public disagreement in principle with the Congress leadership.

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“I have at no stage violated any of the Congress’s positions in Parliament; the only issue on which there has been a public disagreement on principle is Operation Sindoor, where I took a very strong stand, and I remain unapologetic about it,” Tharoor said.

His statement comes amidst recent reports stating that Tharoor has differences with the party leadership and that he is upset over Congress leader Rahul Gandhi not adequately acknowledging his presence at the party’s recent ‘Maha Panchayat’ event in Kochi and over alleged repeated attempts by state leaders to sideline him.

Tharoor said he had written a newspaper column after the Pahalgam attack and that he said in that article, this cannot go unpunished; there has to be a kinetic response. Tharoor said that to his surprise, the Indian government did exactly what he had recommended.

“Equally, we are a country focused on development. We do not want to be dragged into a full-on conflict with Pakistan. And I said, we are a country dependent on external investments, and investors don’t like war zones, so we can’t take a step that would turn India into a war zone. Therefore, hit only terrorist targets, a finite number of them, and signal very clearly that we Indians are only targeting terrorism. We are not attacking Pakistan. It’s Pakistan’s inability and unwillingness to curb terrorism that has obliged us to do this. And I said that don’t give Pakistan any further excuse for escalation. This is what I wrote…,” Tharoor told the gathering.

“How could I be expected to criticise it when I myself recommended it. I supported it fully throughout Operation Sindoor and afterwards,” he said. “When India is at stake, when India’s security and its place in the world are involved, India comes first,” he added.

The Thiruvananthapuram MP emphasised that when national security is at stake, “India comes first” over party differences.

Invoking Jawaharlal Nehru’s famous question, “Who lives if India dies?”, Tharoor argued that political differences must take a backseat on the country’s security issues. “When India is at stake… India comes first,” he said.

He added that political parties may have differences as part of the process of building a better India, but when national interests are involved, India must prevail.

Tharoor’s stance on Operation Sindoor and his selection by the Modi government to lead a multi-party diplomatic delegation have previously drawn sharp criticism from within the Congress for being at variance with the party line, which has sought to hold the BJP regime responsible for lapses in security and the manner in which a ceasefire was reached after Operation Sindoor.

Tharoor said that when India’s security and place in the world are considered, the national interest comes first. “India should focus on development. Not on conflicts with Pakistan. Such defensive measures should end with military operations targeting terrorist camps,” he said.