Tharoor embraces India's neutral role in Russia-Ukraine conflict

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday conceded that he was left with "egg on his face" in opposing India's stance when the Russia-Ukraine war broke out and said due to the policy that was adopted, the country is now in a position where it can make a difference to lasting peace.

Mr Tharoor had criticised India's stance when Russia attacked Ukraine and called for condemnation of the aggression.

During an interactive session at the Raisina Dialogue here, the former minister of state for external affairs said, "I am still wiping the egg of my face because I am one person in the parliamentary debate who actually criticised the Indian position at the time back in February 2022."

The Thiruvananthapuram MP said his criticism was based on the "well-known grounds that there was a violation of the UN charter, there had been a violation of the principle of inviolability of borders, of the sovereignty of a member state namely Ukraine, and we had always stood for the inadmissibility of the use of force to settle international disputes".

"All of those principles had been violated by one party and we should have condemned it. Well, three years later it does look like I am the one with the egg on my face because clearly the policy has meant that India actually has a Prime Minister who can hug both the president of Ukraine and the president in Moscow two weeks apart and be accepted in both places," he said during the session titled 'Waging Peace: Looking Back to Look Ahead'.

Therefore, India is in a position where it can make a difference to a lasting peace if it was so required in ways that very few countries would be able to, Mr Tharoor said.

India also benefits due to a number of factors including its distance from Europe, he said.

With the caveat that he cannot speak on behalf of the government as he was in the opposition, Mr Tharoor also said if it were necessary and if there was an agreed peace between Russia and Ukraine, there would be some willingness on the Indian side to consider sending peacekeepers.

Noting that Russians have made it explicit that they will not accept European peacekeepers who belong to NATO countries, Mr Tharoor said one would have to look beyond Europe for peacekeepers.

"Speaking as an Indian parliamentarian, I don't think there is going to be a lot of resistance to that idea. There was resistance famously when there was a request in 2003 for India to send troops to Iraq and Parliament got together and passed a resolution, saying that in no circumstance, will Indian peacekeepers go to Iraq after the American invasion," the Congress MP said.

"I don't see that happening for Ukraine. I think if it were necessary and there was an agreed peace, I think there would be some willingness to consider. But I can't speak for the government, I am in the opposition," he said.

Mr Tharoor said that with a record of over 49 peacekeeping missions, India's commitment to global stability is well-established.