- Congress MP Shashi Tharoor highlighted differences between Pakistan's and India's Middle East strategies
- Tharoor criticized Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif's social media post linked to US influence
- Pakistan's mediation role stems from its border with Iran and refugee concerns, says Tharoor
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor today pointed out clear differences between Pakistan's compulsions and India's strategies in the Middle East crisis, and defended New Delhi's approach while taking a swipe at Islamabad.
His remarks came as delegations from Washington and Tehran reached Islamabad for negotiations. Before that, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's social media post was found to include the edit-history header "Draft - Pakistan's PM Message on X".
Referring to the post that had gone viral, Tharoor said, "Do you know what kind of relationship Pakistan has with Washington?"
"There have been allegations that Washington wrote that tweet for the Pakistani prime minister. If you and I wrote something for the Indian prime minister, would we write 'draft for India's PM' above it?" Tharoor told reporters in Delhi.
The post by Sharif resembled one that US President Donald Trump had used hours earlier, he said. "Only Pakistan can play the kind of role it has played with Washington," Tharoor said.
On Pakistan's broader mediation role in the US-Iran war, Tharoor said Pakistan shares a 900-km border with Iran, has a significant Shia population, and would absorb the first wave of refugees if the conflict worsens.
"Pakistan's stake is different in this game from ours. I don't see any competition," Tharoor said, adding India's interest is in the outcome and not the process.
Over one crore Indians live in Gulf nations, and the war has affected energy supply.
"Peace should prevail. This war has severely affected India. The end to this war is in India's favour, no matter who mediates, be it Pakistan or someone else," the Congress MP said. He added diplomatic silence can also be a contribution and India would need to assess what role it is best placed to play. "Sometimes, that useful contribution may truly be in silence."
The opposition Congress party has called Pakistan's emerging mediation role a "serious setback" for Indian foreign policy. Tharoor dismissed that criticism and described India as a "responsible stakeholder" in the regional order and warned against passivity. "A vacuum is dangerous and it hurts us in other ways also," he said.
The US and Iran delegations in Islamabad are yet to produce a framework on how to end the war in the Middle East.
