Asked about his party colleagues' swipes at him over his remarks abroad, senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has said he is currently focusing on conveying India's message on terrorism and will get a chance to speak to his colleagues once he returns.
The four-time MP is heading one of the seven Indian delegations that have travelled abroad to expose Pakistan's role in terrorist attacks on Indian soil. The Centre launched the global outreach in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack and India's counterstrike, Operation Sindoor.
The delegation led by Mr Tharoor has now reached Brazil. Asked about his party colleagues' jibes and swipes, Mr Tharoor replied, "I think this is a time for us to focus on our mission. Undoubtedly, in a thriving democracy, there are bound to be comments and criticisms, but I think at this point we can't afford to dwell on them.
"When we get back to India, no doubt we'll have our chance to speak to our colleagues, critics, media there. But right now we're focused on the countries we're coming to and getting the message out to the people here," he added.
Mr Tharoor's remarks articulating the Indian position during the India-Pakistan conflict may have endeared him to critics, but did not impress his colleagues in the Congress.
The Congress, which assured full support to the Centre in its action against those behind the Pahalgam terror attack, has now changed tack and asked the government to come clean on what led to the ceasefire and questioned what role the US played in it. Mr Tharoor's remarks backing the government and the latter choosing him to lead an Indian delegation did not sit well with a section of the Congress.
Earlier, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said Mr Tharoor's remarks don't represent the party's stand. The Congress also overlooked Mr Tharoor while suggesting party leaders' names for the delegations. The government chose him anyway.
Mr Tharoor's comments in Panama proved to be another flashpoint. "What has changed in recent years is that the terrorists have also realised they will have a price to pay. On that, let there be no doubt. When, for the first time, India breached the Line of Control between India and Pakistan to conduct a surgical strike on a terror base, a launchpad - the Uri strike in September 2015. That was already something we had not done before."
"Even during the Kargil War, we had not crossed the Line of Control; in Uri, we did, and then came the attack in Pulwama in January 2019. This time, we crossed not only the Line of Control but also the international border, and we struck the terrorist headquarters in Balakot. This time, we have gone beyond both of those. We have not only gone beyond the Line of Control and the international border. We have struck at the Punjabi heartland of Pakistan by hitting terror bases, training centres, terror headquarters in nine places," he said.
The praise for the Narendra Modi government did not amuse his party colleagues. Senior Congress leader Pawan Khera started taking swipes at Mr Tharoor and tagging him on social media posts. In one of his posts, Mr Khera quoted a passage from Mr Tharoor's book, 'The Paradoxical Prime Minister: Narendra Modi and His India', to take a dig.
The Thiruvananthapuram MP responded with a long post, saying he did not have time for this. "After a long and successful day in Panama, I have to wind up at midnightvhere with departure for Bogota, Colombia in six hours, so I don't really have time for this - but anyway: For those zealots fulminating about my supposed ignorance of Indian valour across the LoC: in tge past (sic).
"I was clearly and explicitly speaking only about reprisals for terrorist attacks and not about previous wars; & my remarks were preceded by a reference to the several attacks that have taken place in recent years alone, during which previous Indian responses were both restrained and constrained by our responsible respect for the LoC and the IB. But as usual, critics and trolls are welcome to distort my views and words as they see fit. I genuinely have better things to do. Goodnight," he said.
Sources in the Congress have now said they do not want to escalate the matter after Mr Tharoor's "clarification post".
