Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has accepted government’s invitation to lead India’s anti-terror diplomatic delegations abroad, despite being excluded from Congress’s official list amid party disagreements over the initiative.
Congress MP and former diplomat Shashi Tharoor has expressed gratitude to the Indian government for selecting him to lead a diplomatic outreach delegation following the deadly Pahalgam terror attack, even as his own party distanced itself from his inclusion.
Tharoor said he was “honoured” to be chosen to represent India internationally, despite not being one of the names the Congress party officially proposed to the government for the mission. “When national interest is involved, and my services are required, I will not be found wanting. Jai Hind,” he wrote on social media platform X.
The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs named Tharoor among a seven-member team of MPs tasked with visiting global capitals to counter Pakistan’s narrative after the April 22 attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam that killed 26 people. Others in the delegation include BJP leaders Ravi Shankar Prasad and Baijayant Panda, JD(U)’s Sanjay Kumar Jha, DMK’s Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, NCP (SP)’s Supriya Sule, and Shiv Sena’s Shrikant Eknath Shinde.
The initiative marks a rare bipartisan effort to bolster India’s diplomatic messaging on terrorism. The delegations are scheduled to travel to the United States, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, South Africa, Egypt, and Japan to brief foreign leaders on the Pahalgam incident and India’s counterterrorism operation, ‘Operation Sindoor’.
The Congress party, however, moved quickly to clarify that Tharoor was not among its nominated MPs. In a post on X, party general secretary Jairam Ramesh said that Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi had submitted four names to the Centre: Anand Sharma, Gaurav Gogoi, Syed Naseer Hussain, and Raja Brar.
“Yesterday morning, the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Kiren Rijiju, spoke with the Congress President… By noon, Rahul Gandhi had sent the list of Congress MPs to the Centre,” Ramesh noted, implying that Tharoor’s inclusion was not authorised by the party.
The development has reignited internal tensions within the Congress. Tharoor has recently drawn criticism from party colleagues for his public praise of the Modi government’s handling of Operation Sindoor, which targeted terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan-occupied areas.
Still, Tharoor’s appointment is being seen as an affirmation of his diplomatic credentials and international stature. He previously served as an Under-Secretary-General at the United Nations and remains a prominent voice in India’s foreign affairs discourse.
The government’s decision to push ahead with a multi-party diplomatic campaign signals a broader intent to present a unified national front on global counterterrorism efforts—even as domestic political differences remain unresolved.
