'Hasn't said anything he should apologise for': Shashi Tharoor defends Rahul Gandhi

Amid a raging row over Rahul Gandhi's remarks made in the UK, senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor asserted on Friday that the former party chief at no point called on foreign countries to intervene in India's democracy and there was nothing remotely anti-national about his comments.

Gandhi's remarks during his recent trip to the United Kingdom have rocked Parliament, with both houses failing to transact any significant business on the first five days of the budget session's second half.

At no point did Gandhi call foreign countries to intervene in India's democracy, the former Union minister asserted.

"What he said was explicit. He said 'this is our problem, it is an Indian problem and Indians will solve it, but you should be aware because Indian democracy is a global public good'. I see nothing there to apologise for," Tharoor said.

If the BJP wants Gandhi to issue an apology for talking about domestic politics in a foreign country, then the first person to apologise will have to be Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he added.

Tharoor claimed that on many foreign visits, Modi said India has been a country where nothing happened for 65 years and Indians used to be ashamed to show their faces abroad before he came to power.

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