Tharoor should refrain from ‘excessive sycophancy’, says Imran Masood on ‘responsible statecraft’ remarks

New Delhi, March 19 (IANS) Congress MP Imran Masood on Thursday launched a sharp attack on fellow party leader Shashi Tharoor over his comments on India’s position regarding the ongoing West Asia conflict, urging him to avoid what he described as “excessive sycophancy” towards the Prime Minister.

Masood’s remarks come after Tharoor offered a nuanced defence of New Delhi’s diplomatic stance amid the escalating tensions involving the US, Israel and Iran.

Tharoor, in an article on the ongoing West Asia crisis, defends India’s diplomatic restraint, pushing back against critics who have described the government’s silence on the US-Israeli war on Iran as a "moral failure", and instead terms New Delhi’s approach as “responsible statecraft”.

Responding to this, Masood told IANS, “Tharoor Sahab, please refrain from such excessive sycophancy towards the Prime Minister; the country has never had a weaker Prime Minister than this one.”

“The nation is currently paying the price for that visit to Israel -- where he (PM Modi) went and hugged the leadership (Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu) -- which was followed shortly thereafter by the outbreak of war; yet, it is the common people who have been left standing in line to bear the consequences,” he added.

In an opinion piece published in The Indian Express, Tharoor argued that while the conflict may violate international law, India’s foreign policy must strike a balance between principle and pragmatism, prioritising national interest, regional stability and strategic partnerships over rhetorical condemnation.

Tharoor’s remarks have triggered unease within sections of the Congress, where some leaders have accused the Centre of maintaining a “deafening silence” and failing to take a proactive diplomatic role in the crisis. Critics within the party have characterised the government’s stance as a “surrender of values” and a departure from India’s traditional non-aligned posture.

Days earlier, Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi criticised the Central government’s “silence” regarding the US-Israel attack on Iran. She had stated that the lack of any official statement on this matter is not neutral; rather, it amounts to an “abdication” of responsibility.

In an op-ed published in The Indian Express, titled ‘Government’s silence on killing of Iran leader is not neutral, it is abdication’, Sonia Gandhi said, “The killing of a sitting head of state in the midst of ongoing negotiations marks a grave rupture in contemporary international relations. Yet, beyond the shock of the event, what stands out equally starkly is New Delhi’s silence.”

Interestingly, Tharoor also recalled late Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s non-alignment policy to justify the current government’s stance on the conflict in West Asia.

Recalling India’s long-standing diplomatic tradition, he said the country has historically balanced principle with pragmatism, citing late Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s policy of non-alignment.

He noted that it was “not a refusal to take moral positions, but a recognition that India’s sovereignty and survival depended on avoiding entanglement in Cold War hostilities”.

“Today, in an increasingly multipolar world, India practises ‘multi-alignment’ -- engaging with diverse powers, sometimes in tension with one another, while keeping our national interest paramount,” he said.

--IANS

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