Congress MP and senior leader Shashi Tharoor, currently leading an all-party parliamentary delegation to the United States, firmly dismissed former US President Donald Trump’s claims of mediating between India and Pakistan, and indirectly rebutted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s recent remarks accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of surrendering under foreign pressure. Speaking at a press briefing in Washington on Thursday, Tharoor underscored India’s consistent stance against involving third-party mediation in its conflict with Pakistan. “We have enormous respect for the American Presidency and the American President (Donald Trump). All we can say for ourselves is that we have never particularly wanted to ask anyone to mediate,” he stated.
Tharoor’s comments come in the wake of Rahul Gandhi’s allegations made during a party convention in Bhopal, where the Leader of the Opposition mocked the Prime Minister and claimed that Modi had “surrendered” following a call from Donald Trump. “Donald Trump called from there and said, Narender.. surrender. Here, Narendra Modi followed Trump’s gesture by saying ‘Yes Sir’,” Gandhi had said, accusing the BJP-RSS of cowardice under pressure. In contrast, Tharoor made it clear that India’s actions in Operation Sindoor were a result of its own strategic decisions. He highlighted that on May 10, Pakistan had requested India to halt operations following a heavy assessment of damage inflicted by Indian strikes. “So, it looks very clear that whatever damage the Pakistanis believe they may have inflicted on India, it wasn’t sufficient to prevent India from inflicting such extensive damage on Pakistan. So, they decided to request us to stop, which we’re very happy to do,” he said.
Detailing the scale of India’s offensive, Tharoor revealed that India struck 11 Pakistani military airfields on the final night of the conflict. “Publicly available satellite imagery shows extensive damage, craters on runways, and operational command centres bombed,” he said. He also cited a leaked confidential Pakistani dossier acknowledging that the Indian strikes extended from Hyderabad in the south to Peshawar in the northwest.
Tharoor’s remarks serve as a clear contradiction to Gandhi’s claim that the cessation of hostilities was a result of foreign intervention. Reiterating India’s independent stance, Tharoor remarked, “I think the US has understood for some time now that India has a very clear position that there will be no talks with a gun pointed at our head.” He added with a touch of wit, “It’s not that we can’t talk to Pakistan. I was joking the other day, we can speak all the languages they can speak, and we’re very happy to dialogue with them in any of those languages.” Tharoor also issued a stern warning, affirming that India would retaliate again if Pakistan failed to curb terror elements on its soil.
The all-party delegation, after concluding a visit to Brazil, arrived in the US with the objective of enhancing understanding among American stakeholders regarding India’s position. “We just want to explain India’s stance, and we do not want nations to do anything other than to understand India’s point of view,” Tharoor said. The delegation has been briefing key US interlocutors on Operation Sindoor, launched by India on May 7 as a response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives and injured several others. Indian forces targeted terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, resulting in the deaths of over 100 terrorists from groups like Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Hizbul Mujahideen.
Tharoor’s clear dismissal of the Trump mediation narrative and his emphasis on Pakistan’s request to halt Indian strikes presents a firm denial of Rahul Gandhi’s narrative of foreign pressure influencing India’s military decisions.
