No more foot-in-mouth, promises Tharoor

Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor is believed to have assured the party leadership that he would be more circumspect with his remarks, particularly when they concern policy issues.

Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor is believed to have assured the party leadership that he would be more circumspect with his remarks, particularly when they concern policy issues.

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On Tuesday, he met Congress general secretary and media in-charge Janardan Dwivedi in the wake of his remark that Saudi Arabia could be a “valuable interlocutor” while talking about India and Pakistan.

The remarks had embarrassed the party and the government, given Tharoor a bad press and forced Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to put the record straight that he had asked Saudi Arabia to persuade Pakistan to stop abetting terrorism against India.

During his hour-long meeting with Dwivedi, Tharoor is understood to have explained in detail the nuances of his statement and also assured the party leadership that he was going to put an immediate end to controversial remarks.

The party, however, maintained that the meeting was scheduled before Tharoor’s visit to Saudi Arabia.

“It was a routine courtesy call. It is natural for a minister to visit the party office,” Dwivedi later said.

He added, “Tharoor’s views on India’s foreign policy are same as that of the party and government. What Tharoor said is not different from what the Prime Minister stated on the issue. He has not taken a divergent stand.”

BJP flays Manmohan
BJP leader Prakash Javdekar on Tuesday accused Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of deviating from the national consensus that Indo-Pak issues had to be dealt with bilaterally without third-party interference.

“Coming back from Saudi Arabia, the Prime Minister has said that he has requested Saudi Arabia to use its good offices to persuade Pakistan to stop terror acts against India,” Javdekar said.

“After the Shimla Agreement, the bilateral talks principle had been the national consensus, from which there is a subtle policy shift without taking Parliament into confidence.”