'Admiration for PM Modi has transcended the physical world': Congress taunts Shashi Tharoor
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "'Admiration for PM Modi has transcended the physical world': Congress taunts Shashi Tharoor")
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor Photograph: (ANI)
Tharoor's comments praising PM Modi's response to attacks on Indian civilian sailors triggered the disagreement, with Khera arguing that the statements attributed to the Prime Minister were absent from official documents.
The Congress on Saturday took a swipe at senior leader Shashi Tharoor over his remarks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with party spokesperson Pawan Khera suggesting that Tharoor's admiration for the Prime Minister had gone beyond reality. Tharoor responded by saying it was surprising that a statement about protecting Indian civilian sailors had been turned into a political controversy.
The disagreement began after Tharoor praised PM Modi's handling of concerns relating to attacks on Indian civilian sailors. Khera questioned those remarks and argued that Tharoor had attributed statements to the Prime Minister that did not appear in official records.
"My senior colleague Dr Shashi Tharoor's admiration for PM Modi appears to have transcended the limitations of the physical world. He now seems capable of hearing what Modi doesn't even say," Khera said.
In response, Tharoor said his remarks were based on published media reports. Sharing a YouTube video of the recent interaction between PM Modi and US President Donald Trump, he defended his comments.
"For those who believe I 'heard' words that @narendramodi never said at the G7, I was merely alluding to widely published reports about his remarks," Tharoor wrote on X.
"I read widely and retain what I read. I have never in my life been accused of misrepresenting or distorting any facts or statements and I stand by my summary of what I read in the print media about these remarks, which were reportedly made when our PM was seated next to @realDonaldTrump," he added.
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Khera questions official record of Modi-Trump meeting
Earlier, Tharoor had said PM Modi raised the issue of attacks on Indian civilian sailors during both public and private discussions with President Trump.
"PM Modi made his point clear both in the public and private meetings with the President. It is important to convey the message that in wartime, civilian sailors on commercial ships should not be targets of combat. They are not soldiers, and that is the message PM Modi conveyed," Tharoor had said.
Khera disputed the claim, pointing out that neither the India-US joint statement nor the Ministry of External Affairs' account of the Modi-Trump meeting mentioned the issue.
Referring to the MEA readout of the meeting held on the sidelines of the G7 summit, Khera said there was no mention of the "cold-blooded killing" of three Indian sailors by the United States in the Gulf of Oman.
"This was the first Modi-Trump meeting after, yet there is no indication that Modi challenged Trump's repeated claim — now made over 120 times — that he secured a ceasefire by threatening India with trade consequences," Khera said.
He also noted that the official record made no reference to the attack on the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena, which had participated in MILAN-2026.
"And yet, Tharoor ji somehow heard forceful assertions, robust pushback, and uncompromising diplomacy that never made it into the official record. Perhaps the rest of us are constrained by ordinary human senses. For devotees of the 'Maha-Maanav Modi', the less he says, the more they hear," Khera said.
Tharoor says concern for Indian lives should unite everyone
Responding to the controversy, Tharoor said he was surprised that his remarks had sparked a partisan debate.
"Frankly, I find it extraordinary that a statement about protecting Indian civilian sailors is being twisted into a partisan political controversy. Three Indians lost their lives. My remarks were about the safety of our citizens and the principle that civilian seafarers should never be targets of military action," he said.
"Concern for Indian lives should unite us, not divide us," the former Union minister added.
