India Has A PM Who Can Hug Both Russia-Ukraine Presidents: Shashi Tharoor Praises Modi

In a statement which could possibly embarrass his own party, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi over India's policy on Russia-Ukraine war.

What Tharoor Said?

During an interactive session at the Raisina Dialogue in Delhi, the Thiruvananthapuram MP said that he was left with an egg on his face when he opposed India's stand on the Russia-Ukraine war, three years ago. He said India is today in a position where it could make a difference for lasting peace.

On being asked about India's decision to buy fuel from Russia amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor says, "I am still wiping the egg off my face because I was the one person in the parliamentary debate who had criticised the Indian position in February 2022 on the grounds of violation of international charters & principles...

Well, 3 years later, it does look like I am the one with egg on my face because clearly, the policy has meant that India has a Prime Minister who can hug both the President of Ukraine and the President of Moscow two weeks apart and we are accepted in both places. Therefore, India is in a position where it can make a difference to lasting peace if it was so required in ways that very few countries would be able to..."

Tharoor pointed out that his earlier views were based on the "well-known grounds that there was a violation of the UN charter, there had been a violation of the principle of inviolability of borders, of the sovereignty of a member state, namely Ukraine, and we had always stood for the inadmissibility of the use of force to settle international disputes".

He claimed that the country has gained from maintaining distance from Europe. The MP also noted that the Indian side should be considering sending peacekeepers if there was an agreed peace between Russia and Ukraine.

India Refused To Send Troops To Iraq

"Speaking as an Indian parliamentarian, I don't think there is going to be a lot of resistance to that idea. There was resistance famously when there was a request in 2003 for India to send troops to Iraq and Parliament got together and passed a resolution, saying that in no circumstances, will Indian peacekeepers go to Iraq after the American invasion," the Kerala MP added.

"I don't see that happening in Ukraine. I think if it were necessary and there was an agreed peace, I think there would be some willingness to consider. But I can't speak for the government, I am in the opposition," he noted.

The Congress leader on noted that India has a record of over 49 peacekeeping missions, which has established India's commitment to global stability.

Russia and Ukraine war started in 2022. After three years, the ceasefire process has started as US President Donald Trump is in the process of striking a peacedeal with the two warring nations.