'A refreshing take...' Kerala BJP hails Shahi Tharoor's praise for PM Modi's Russia-Ukraine diplomacy

Thiruvananthapuram: Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday (Mar 18) admitted that he was proved wrong for opposing India’s position at the outset of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. He acknowledged that New Delhi’s approach has now placed the country in a unique position to play a constructive role in facilitating lasting peace.

Tharoor, who had earlier criticised India’s decision not to explicitly condemn Russia’s actions against Ukraine, had called for a stronger stance against the aggression at the time.

BJP Kerala State President K Surendran lauded Tharoor on X (formerly Twitter), appreciating his acknowledgment of Modi’s diplomatic success. 

He wrote on X, "Dear @ShashiTharoor ji , I’ve always admired your candor. Your honesty in saying 'I opposed it initially' and now praising Modiplomacy’s success on Russia-Ukraine is commendable. Unlike your @INCIndia peers, you see India’s global rise under PM @narendramodi ji,truly a refreshing take!"

Speaking during an interactive session at the Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi, the former Minister of State for External Affairs reflected on his earlier comments and recognised the effectiveness of the policy India ultimately adopted.

"I am still wiping the egg off my face because I am one person in the parliamentary debate who actually criticised the Indian position at the time back in February 2022," Tharoor said. 

Also Read: 'Hope Rahul Gandhi won't act against him': BJP as Shashi Tharoor agrees with India's stance on Ukraine war

What did Shashi Tharoor comment about India's diplomacy?

The Thiruvananthapuram MP said that he criticised 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".

"All of those principles had been violated by one party and we should have condemned it. Well, three years later it does look like I am the one with the egg on my face because clearly the policy has meant that India actually has a Prime Minister who can hug both the president of Ukraine and the president in Moscow two weeks apart and be accepted in both places," he said during the session titled 'Waging Peace: Looking Back to Look Ahead.

Russia had invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, since then, United States President has been having "productive conversations" with the Russian President Vladamir Putin, talking about a ceasefire, and ending the "horrible war," as said by President Trump on Truth Social. 

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