A day after senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor acknowledged that India’s diplomatic approach to the Russia-Ukraine war has placed the country in a unique position to maintain friendly ties with both nations, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took a jibe at the Congress. BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla expressed hope that Rahul Gandhi would not take action against Tharoor for his candid remarks on India’s foreign policy.
“Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has accepted that Congress’s stance on Russia-Ukraine was incorrect and that the approach taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Indian government was absolutely right. Today, India enjoys a position where we can embrace both (Russian President) Vladimir Putin and (Ukrainian President) Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as well as the US,” Poonawalla said in a video statement.
Poonawalla was responding to Tharoor’s comments made on March 18 at the Raisina Dialogue 2025 in New Delhi.
During the event, Tharoor conceded that, despite previously calling for a stronger condemnation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, India’s balanced diplomatic stance has given it a crucial role in international relations.
“I am still wiping the egg off my face because I was one of the people in Parliament who criticized India’s position back in February 2022,” Tharoor admitted.
Explaining his earlier stance, he said, “I had condemned the invasion on the grounds that it violated the UN Charter, the sovereignty of Ukraine, and the principle that international disputes should not be settled by force. These are values that India has always upheld, so I believed we should have taken a stronger stand against Russia.”
However, reflecting on the present scenario, Tharoor acknowledged that India’s neutral stance has positioned it as a diplomatic bridge between the warring nations.
“Three years later, I have to admit that India’s policy has enabled Prime Minister Modi to be welcomed by both Ukraine and Russia within weeks of each other. This means India is in a position to contribute to a lasting peace in a way that few other countries can,” he added.
Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Since then, global efforts, including discussions led by world leaders, have aimed at finding a resolution to the conflict.
