'Jaishankar a friend and a skilled, able foreign minister', says Congress leader Shashi Tharoor
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Saturday took to Twitter and said he has no difference of opinion with external affairs minister S Jaishankar over his reaction to the incident of Khalistanis pulling the Indian flag down in London
- Jul 1, 2023,
- Updated Jul 1, 2023 11:46 AM IST
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Saturday took to Twitter and said he has no difference of opinion with external affairs minister S Jaishankar over his reaction to the incident of Khalistanis pulling the Indian flag down in London. "I have no difference of opinion with the EAM over that. I regard him (Jaishankar) as a friend and a skilled and able foreign minister," Tharoor said.
In March this year, the tricolour flying atop the Indian High Commission in London was pulled down by a group of protesters waving separatist Khalistani flags and chanting pro-Khalistani slogans. India, meanwhile, registered its strong protest with the British government over the safety of its diplomatic mission and questioned the lack of sufficient security at the premises.
The senior Congress leader said, "It’s not our style to poke our fingers in the eyes of foreign countries without provocation. The flag incident was a provocation and India’s response was fitting."
"When that incident occurred, I expressed outrage even before MEA did, since I was accosted by cameras at the Lok Sabha as soon as it happened. Outrage was indeed the most appropriate response," he wrote.
Clarifying further on a video doing rounds on social media that claims Tharoor asked Jaishankar to 'cool it' over the flag incident, Tharoor said that his comment urging restraint was about Jaishankar's remarks at Cubbon Park, Bangalore, to the BJP Yuva Morcha against the West, which were inevitably picked up by the national and international media and played badly abroad.
"Friends have forwarded me a message doing the rounds from the usual trolls claiming that my advice to EAM @DrSJaishankar to “cool it” was over his reaction to the incident of the Khalistanis pulling our flag down outside the Indian Embassy. It wasn’t," he wrote.
"Let’s keep our foreign policy bipartisan. We are all Indians and all that matters should be our national interest," he concluded.
Also Read: TCS on foreign remittance: Government releases new FAQs on tax rule, effective from October 1
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Saturday took to Twitter and said he has no difference of opinion with external affairs minister S Jaishankar over his reaction to the incident of Khalistanis pulling the Indian flag down in London. "I have no difference of opinion with the EAM over that. I regard him (Jaishankar) as a friend and a skilled and able foreign minister," Tharoor said.
In March this year, the tricolour flying atop the Indian High Commission in London was pulled down by a group of protesters waving separatist Khalistani flags and chanting pro-Khalistani slogans. India, meanwhile, registered its strong protest with the British government over the safety of its diplomatic mission and questioned the lack of sufficient security at the premises.
The senior Congress leader said, "It’s not our style to poke our fingers in the eyes of foreign countries without provocation. The flag incident was a provocation and India’s response was fitting."
"When that incident occurred, I expressed outrage even before MEA did, since I was accosted by cameras at the Lok Sabha as soon as it happened. Outrage was indeed the most appropriate response," he wrote.
Clarifying further on a video doing rounds on social media that claims Tharoor asked Jaishankar to 'cool it' over the flag incident, Tharoor said that his comment urging restraint was about Jaishankar's remarks at Cubbon Park, Bangalore, to the BJP Yuva Morcha against the West, which were inevitably picked up by the national and international media and played badly abroad.
"Friends have forwarded me a message doing the rounds from the usual trolls claiming that my advice to EAM @DrSJaishankar to “cool it” was over his reaction to the incident of the Khalistanis pulling our flag down outside the Indian Embassy. It wasn’t," he wrote.
"Let’s keep our foreign policy bipartisan. We are all Indians and all that matters should be our national interest," he concluded.
Also Read: TCS on foreign remittance: Government releases new FAQs on tax rule, effective from October 1