'1971 circumstances were different': Shashi Tharoor backs ceasefire, says lesson has been taught to terrorists

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has backed the ceasefire understanding between India and Pakistan, calling it a necessary step to prevent escalation, while distancing the current situation from the 1971 war. "1971 was a great achievement, Indira Gandhi rewrote the map of the subcontinent, but the circumstances were different," Tharoor said, rejecting comparisons being drawn on social media between the leadership styles of Indira Gandhi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Speaking on the recent understanding reached between New Delhi and Islamabad, Tharoor said the situation was spiraling unnecessarily. “We had reached a stage where the escalation was needlessly getting out of control. Peace is necessary for us,” he said, asserting that India had achieved its limited objective.

“This was not a war that we intended to continue. We just wanted to teach terrorists a lesson, and that lesson has been taught,” Tharoor added. He also expressed confidence in the government’s efforts to track down those behind the Pahalgam attack. “I'm sure the government will continue trying to identify and track the specific individuals who did the horrors of Pahalgam.”

While emphasizing the significance of 1971, Tharoor pointed out that the context then was very different. “Bangladesh was fighting a moral cause, and liberating Bangladesh was a clear objective. Just keeping on firing shells at Pakistan is not a clear objective,” he said.

His comments come amid a wider political debate over India’s decision to accept a ceasefire, with some questioning whether the move was made under pressure from the United States. The Congress party weighed in by invoking former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s defiance of American pressure during the 1971 war. Quoting Gandhi’s message to then-US President Richard Nixon, the party posted: “We have our backbones straight, enough will & resources to fight all atrocities. Times have passed when any nation sitting 3 or 4 thousand miles away could give orders to Indians on the basis of colour superiority to do as they wished.” 

“That was courage, that was standing up for India, that was not compromising with the nation’s pride,” the Congress post said.

Separately, Sushant Sareen, senior fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, called India's recent operation a landmark military success. “From what I am learning, Op Sindoor is as spectacular a victory as 1971 in terms of Indian military domination,” he wrote on X. Sareen added, “These Punjabi Muslims have been shown up to being the loudmouth boasters they are. Bajwa was correct. The Pakistan Army is no match for Indian armed forces. Even the Chinese realised that and that’s why they counseled restraint.”