Moscow, 24 June

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday said his article on Operation Sindoor's global outreach was not a sign of his "leaping to join" Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party but a statement of national unity, interest and standing up for India.

Tharoor, in an article published in The Hindu on Monday, said Modi's energy, dynamism and willingness to engage remained a "prime asset" for India on the global stage but deserved greater backing.

His remarks were seen as likely to irk his Congress party and widen cracks in his ties with its leadership.

Asked about the article at an event, the Thiruvananthapuram MP said: "It is not a sign of my leaping to join the prime minister's party (the BJP) as some people unfortunately have been implying. It is a statement of national unity, of national interest and of standing up for India, which to my mind is fundamentally why I came back to India after 25 years of service at the UN."

"I did so to serve India, and I am very proud to have the opportunity to do so," Tharoor added.

Tharoor said the article was written about 'Operation Sindoor' in which he described the success of the diplomatic outreach mission.

"People always tend to see all this in the context of today's news. It is an article in which I describe the success of this outreach mission, which, amongst other things, showcased the unity of all parties behind the matter of vital national interest," Tharoor said.

"So, I said the prime minister himself has demonstrated dynamism and energy in engaging with other countries. He has travelled to more countries than any prime minister, and done so in order to take the message of India around the world," the Congress leader said.

"And to my mind, what we all did was give his efforts that back up by bringing to bear the strength of all of India's different political parties, backgrounds, groups, religions, and convey to the world that message that a united India stands for. Today it is a message against terrorism, tomorrow it could be a message on something else, but that backing up, I believe, is very important," he said.

Tharoor recalled the expression used by Americans that political differences should stop at the water's edge to buttress his argument.

"I, too, have believed for the longest time that political differences in our democracy should stop at the borders. For us, it seems to me there is really no such thing as a BJP foreign policy or a Congress foreign policy, there is only Indian foreign policy and Indian national interest."

"I am not saying something new, I said this very many years ago, and I said this publicly, on the record, the very first time when I became the chairman of the External Affairs committee back in 2014," Tharoor said.