Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor once again broke ranks with his party, endorsing the Modi government’s position on the US-Israel-Iran war, calling it “responsible statecraft” rather than a moral retreat.
In an article in the Indian Express, Tharoor acknowledged that the conflict cannot be justified under international law and violates principles India has long upheld, including sovereignty and non-aggression. Yet, he argued that New Delhi’s restraint reflects strategic prudence.
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“Silence, in this context, is not cowardice,” he wrote. “It is a sober recognition of the interconnectedness of our national interests with the realities of the region.”
His stance was at odds with his party’s. Since the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran last month, killing scores of civilians and top leaders like Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Congress called out the government for not denouncing the war outright.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said India must be “morally clear” in condemning unilateral military action, while ex-Congress chief Sonia Gandhi panned the government’s silence on Khamenei’s assassination as “not a neutral position but its abdication.”
ON LIBERALS AND MORAL POSTURING
Tharoor himself noted that India fumbled its response by issuing very belated condolences on Khamenei’s killing. However, he argued that the government shouldn’t be condemned for choosing silence over confrontation.
“India’s silence is not an endorsement of the war,” he wrote. “It is a recognition that our national interest requires prudence, not posturing.”
The senior Congress leader took aim at so-called liberals who accuse the government of moral cowardice and demand action while not having any skin in the game.
“Foreign policy is not an academic seminar,” he wrote. “To insist on denunciation without regard for consequences is to indulge in the luxury of rhetoric at the expense of responsibility.”
INDIA’S COLD WAR PRAGMATISM
Tharoor argued that Nehruvian and Gandhian principles must be adapted and applied in service of national interest. Pointing to India’s Cold War-era ties with Russia, he argued that the dispensation at the time recognised the Soviets were a dependable ally that helped keep Western hostility in check.
Moralistic stands couldn’t be allowed to jeopardise the strategic relationship with Moscow even when it violated international law, he noted.
“It meant we understood the costs of confrontation and chose prudence over posturing,” he said, adding that the same logic applies today — both to Russia’s war in Ukraine and the US-Israeli assault on Iran.
A BALANCING ACT
A career diplomat, Tharoor cautioned that under a mercurial Donald Trump, the US is not India’s friend or a reliable ally, prone to lashing out if opposed. At the same time, he underlined that New Delhi needs stable relations with Washington for the sake of defence ties, technology partnerships, and as a counterweight to China.
The stakes extend beyond the United States. Tharoor highlighted India’s deep economic ties with the Gulf, where a huge Indian diaspora lives and works. The ongoing hostilities threaten nearly $200 billion in annual trade, critical energy supplies, and the livelihoods of about 9 million Indians, he claimed.
“To indulge in sanctimonious moralising by condemning the US-Israeli war on Iran would risk destabilising these relationships,” he wrote, warning of disruptions to remittances, trade and energy flows.
“Our interests are not served by indulging in the gratification of grandstanding — unless we are confident that we can comfortably withstand the consequences. And today, we cannot.”
Tharoor argued that restraint preserves diplomatic space. “Silence, in the absence of leverage, can be a strategy,” he wrote, allowing India to safeguard interests while keeping channels open with all sides.
This is not the first time Tharoor has aligned with the government on key issues. He previously praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s counterterrorism agenda and led all-party outreach to US and other countries about the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor.
His latest remarks, however, are likely to irk his Congress party colleagues and widen cracks in his ties with its brass.
– Ends
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
