“Looking Square In The Eye.”: Shashi Tharoor On PM Modi’s Pak Conflict Speech

New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi managed the India-Pakistan conflict “extremely well”, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said on Tuesday, hailing him for Operation Sindoor and for having sent a clear message to the neighbouring nation through his first public speech on the strikes a day ago.

“It is indeed always required (PM address). It is the responsibility of our Prime Minister to address his people every now and then. He does his monthly broadcast, Mann Ki Baat, which is not urgent and serious material. It’s more discriminating overall,” Mr Tharoor said to NDTV.

“I believe appearing on TV, facing the country square in the eye and discussing major issues at the forefront of their minds is always significant, whether it was Covid or whether it’s war. We needed him to do it. So I am relieved that he did it,” he further added.

On Monday, PM Modi spoke to the nation for the first time after the war with the neighboring nation began last week. He explained that the operations against Pakistan have been merely suspended and what would happen in the future will be based on their conduct.

Mr Tharoor, a Congress MP in Lok Sabha from Thiruvananthapuram, said that the Prime Minister must deliver similar speeches “each time there is a moment of crisis”.

Congratulating Operation Sindoor, which was conducted in retaliation to the Pahalgam terror attack, the Congress said: “I have no doubts that a well-thought-out operation like this resulted from a well-equipped military headquarters. It’s not some loose, crazy doing something.”

“Overall crisis was managed very well. I have spoken on record that Operation Sindoor, right from the nomenclature to the presentation to the behavior, all of that I give full marks to,” said Mr Tharoor.

He also stated that Pakistan should now understand that “we are not anymore prepared to take all this (terror attacks)”. “The more you do, the more consequences you are going to face. I think all that messaging was very clear, and the Pakistanis have got that message,” he added.

Operation Sindoor was initiated on the intervening night of May 7 and 8 increased bilateral tensions, as it resulted in counter-strikes and strikes between the two countries. India and Pakistan agreed on Saturday to cease all firing and military operations on land, air and sea, with effect from 5pm. Pakistan, however, breached the agreement hours after it came into force.

“Pleased To Find My Lines In PM Speech”

Mr Tharoor expressed that he was extremely delighted to hear one of his lines from an article he had penned last week read out in the Prime Minister’s speech.

“I was quite delighted to see one of my lines that impressed his speech writers because he used this – When I mentioned the Prime Minister had spoken of this being not an era of war and I had said in my Indian Express article a fortnight ago, but not an era of terrorism either. That line found its way into the PM’s speech. So I am chuffed about that,” he said.

“PM’s Message Was Good, Didn’t Concentrate On Pak’s Claims”

Referring to the Opposition allegations that the speech of the Prime Minister was inadequate and did not tackle misinformation from Pakistan, Mr Tharoor remarked: “I don’t think he specially responded to the other folks’ (Pakistan’s) story in any way. He spoke regarding what we were attempting to achieve, what we feel we accomplished and how we are determined going forward. That message is fine.”

The world narrative is influenced by many factors, the Congress leader added. “There are individuals beneath his (PM Modi’s) level who must be doing that (dealing with misinformation). if there are media outlets which are prepared to provide us the time and space to be heard, we should jump on to those because we cannot completely depend on the truth that we made the correct statements from here, (but) are individuals really listening to them in their own nations, in their own languages, in their own television stations? These are significant matters,” he stated.

“Pakistan In Denial Mode”

The Congress leader stated “denial is the Pakistani modus operandi”. “Pakistanis are running and telling everyone ‘oh my gosh, we did nothing. They (Indians) were attacking us without any provocation’. And when we say look at Pahalgam, they say we didn’t do Pahalgam, where is the evidence? And indeed in a lot of foreign interviews, badgering us to ask where is your evidence,” he added.

“Where was the proof that Osama Bin Laden was there until they found him. Where was the proof that they had committed 26/11 until Kasab was taken alive. The issue is denial is the Pakistani modus operandi,” he added.

Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, who had sanctioned the attacks on the US on September 11, 2001, was murdered by the US forces in 2011.

Ajmal Kasab, however, was one of the 10 terrorists responsible for the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. The only person to be arrested, he was hanged to death on November 21, 2012.

Mr Tharoor, however, opined it is necessary for India to track down the masterminds behind the April 22 Pahalgam terror strike in which 26 tourists – 25 Indians and one Nepali national – were killed.

“I think that we still have to pursue the people who committed Pahalgam; we appear to have named three out of four of them. We have to pursue them and apprehend them. Whatever it takes, however long it takes, is something that is necessary for India’s self-respect to attain,” he stated.