The Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha MP’s articulate and sophisticated defence of India’s missile and drone strikes against Pakistan this week has earned him accolades unmatched by any other Indian politician.
In a Shrill World, Tharoor’s Voice of Reason Stands Out
In an age dominated by shrill, high-velocity debates and mindless sloganeering, education and erudition still command respect. Congress MP and eloquent orator Shashi Tharoor reaffirmed this truth on Saturday with his measured and articulate defence of India’s recent missile and drone strikes against Pakistan.
As news of a fragile ceasefire emerged, Tharoor’s poised commentary stood out in sharp contrast to the cacophony of partisan rhetoric. In a widely circulated and praised interview with Al Arabiya English, the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha MP clarified that India’s strikes were not acts of escalation but a “calibrated response” targeting terrorist infrastructure, with careful efforts made to avoid civilian casualties.
Tharoor defended India’s military response as a justified retaliation to the horrific Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 civilian lives. He underscored that the international community has largely acknowledged India’s right to respond to cross-border terrorism. Nations such as France, Russia, and Israel extended support, while even China reacted with notable restraint, merely urging both sides to maintain peace.
“Pakistani attackers won’t go unpunished – India’s response is justified, not an escalation,” he declared, emphasizing that the next move would depend on Pakistan’s actions.
Later that evening, as reports surfaced that Pakistan was already breaching the ceasefire, Tharoor shared a telling Hindi couplet on X:
“Uski fitrat hai mukar jaane ki, uske vaade pe yakeen kaise karu”
(“It’s their nature to go back on their word—how can I trust her promises?”)
Tharoor’s seasoned and globally attuned perspective echoes his views from Pax Indica: India and the World of the 21st Century, where he argued that as a major power, India must play a role in shaping the global order. “India is well qualified to write those rules and define the norms that will guide tomorrow’s world,” he wrote.
His latest intervention also brought back memories of a time when Indian political leaders spoke in unison on matters of national interest. One such moment came in 1994 during the Narasimha Rao government, when BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee, then in the opposition, led an Indian delegation to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) in Geneva. The mission thwarted a resolution—backed by Pakistan and the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC)—that sought to censure India for alleged human rights violations in Kashmir.
Among those in the delegation was senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid, who later recalled that a photograph of Vajpayee embracing him landed on the cover of India Today. While it celebrated bipartisan unity abroad, it also gave ammunition to political rivals back home, who accused Khurshid of having a “secret deal with the BJP” during the 1996 elections.
Tharoor’s statesmanlike stance may well rekindle that spirit of political concord—but will it also invite criticism from within his own party, as it did for Khurshid decades ago?