Another rift between Shashi Tharoor and the Congress party erupted after Thiruvananthapuram MP expressed support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks during a meeting with US President Donald Trump at the G7 Summit.
Hitting back at Congress leadership over criticism for his support of Modi's remarks during his meeting with Trump, Tharoor said that some people are interested in “scoring political points”.
The row sparked after the Thiruvananthapuram MP earlier said: “PM Modi made his point clear both in the public and private meetings with the president.”
“It is important to convey the message that in wartime, civilian sailors on commercial ships should not be targets of combat. They are not soldiers, and that is the message PM Modi conveyed," he was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
Congress takes jibe at Shashi Tharoor
In response to this, Congress's Pawan Khera targeted Tharoor and stated that the leader's "aspirations" for the prime minister has "transcended the limitations of the physical world. He now seems capable of hearing what Modi doesn't even say."
Also Read | Shashi Tharoor backs Modi on interaction with Trump, BJP taunts Rahul Gandhi: 'Hope he doesn't sack him'
{{/usCountry}}Also Read | Shashi Tharoor backs Modi on interaction with Trump, BJP taunts Rahul Gandhi: 'Hope he doesn't sack him'
{{/usCountry}}"Tharoor ji somehow heard forceful assertions, robust pushback, and uncompromising diplomacy that never made it into the official record. Perhaps the rest of us are constrained by ordinary human senses," Khera added.
Thaoor hits back
In response to Khera's remarks, Shashi Tharoor posted a report regarding the issue of the safety of Indian seafarers being raised during the Modi-Trump meeting.
The Congress MP also posted a summary from Google's AI tool Gemini regarding the meeting, which stated that the incident in which three Indian seafarers were killed in a US attack in the Gulf of Oman was raised.
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"I read widely and retain what I read. I have never in my life been accused of misrepresenting or distorting any facts or statements, and I stand by my summary of what I read in the print media bout these remarks, which were reportedly made when our PM was seated next to Trump," Tharoor added.
The Congress leader further accused the party of being "interested in scoring political points rather than addressing the concern" of Indians losing their lives in the US-Iran war.
"Three Indians lost their lives. My remarks were about the safety of our citizens and the principle that civilian seafarers should never be targets of military action. If some people are more interested in scoring political points than addressing that concern, that says more about them than it does about me," he wrote on X.