NEW DELHI: Shashi Tharoor’s recent praise for the Modi government for its stance on the Russia-Ukraine war gave new ammunition to the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday which taunted Congress on Wednesday saying the Prime Minister “needs new haters” as “old ones are turning into his fans”.
BJP IT head Amit Malviya took to twitter to share a clip of Tharoor’s remark and wrote, “Prime Minister Modi needs new haters… Old ones are turning into his fans.”
BJP’s Sambit Patra also took a jibe at Congress and said that Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi should come forward and appreciate Tharoor’s stand on India’s position on the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
“Shashi Tharoor understands diplomacy, he had been in the UN for a very long time. He has appreciated PM Modi’s stand in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Other leaders of Congress should also learn from Shashi Tharoor instead of Speaking against PM Modi and the nation every time… Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi should come forward and appreciate Shashi Tharoor’s stand,” Patra said.
During a panel discussion on Tuesday at the Raisina Dialogue, Shashi Tharoor acknowledged having to “wipe egg off his face” after initially criticising India’s diplomatic stance on the Russia-Ukraine war. He conceded that the country’s approach ultimately positioned it uniquely as a friend to both warring nations.
“I am still wiping the egg off my face because I was one person in the parliamentary debate who actually criticised the Indian position at the time back in February 2022,” Tharoor admitted.
Explaining his earlier stance, he said, “On the well-worn grounds that Espen [Norway’s Foreign Minister] will understand, since he and I discussed this during my UN days—there was a violation of the UN Charter, the sovereignty of a member state, namely Ukraine, and we had always stood for the principle of the inviolability of borders and the inadmissibility of the use of force to settle international disputes. All of those principles had been violated by one party, and we should have condemned it.”
Reflecting on the outcome, he added, “Well, three years later, it does look like I am the one with egg on my face because, clearly, India’s policy has ensured that our Prime Minister can hug both the President of Ukraine and the President of Moscow just two weeks apart and still be accepted in both places. As a result, India is now in a position to contribute to a lasting peace in ways that very few countries can.”
BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad also welcomed Tharoor’s remark adding that the decisions made by the Modi government are in the favour of the nation.
“He thinks that the statements he made regarding the Russia-Ukraine war in the past were not right. The policies of the Indian government were right… Better late than never… The decisions made by the Modi government are in the favour of the nation… The way Shashi Tharoor has admitted, other leaders of Congress should do the same,” Prasad told ANI.
