'They train terrorists': Shashi Tharoor slams Pakistan in meeting with Russian officials, stuns all with fluent French - Watch viral video

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor attended a meeting in Moscow with Russian Liberal Democratic Party chairman Leonis Slutsky and stunned the delegation with fluent French - videos of which has gone viral on social media. Tharoor, who is known for his exceptionally fluent English, spoke to Slutsky about combating terrorism and slammed Pakistan in French. His response came when the Russian Liberal Democratic Party chairman spoke about Russia’s plans to host a conference early next year involving the parliamentary heads of six countries: Turkey, Iran, Russia, India, Pakistan, and China.

What was Tharoor's response?

Tharoor replied in French, directly addressing the problem of Pakistan’s involvement. "There is a country that unfortunately provides a safe haven for these terrorist groups," Tharoor said. "They have their headquarters, they train terrorists in their country, fund them, arm them, and send them to other nations. It’s difficult for us to ignore the fact that they enjoy patronage in Pakistan. The video of Tharoor speaking in fluent French has gone viral, both for his linguistic excellence and the diplomatic clarity with which he cornered Pakistan. Shashi Tharoor also led India's all-party delegation after Operation Sindoor to expose Pakistan's role in cross-border terrorism.

After the meeting with the Russian official, Tharoor took to X and shared images and wrote, “Good to renew my acquaintance with my Russian counterpart, Mr Slutsky, who had visited Parliament in New Delhi a few months ago with a Russian delegation. We exchanged views on regional peace, Operation Sindoor and possible avenues of future parliamentary cooperation.” In Russia, Tharoor also met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the Primakov Readings in Moscow.

Tharoor vs Congress

Tharoor's remark on Pakistan came amid his own party's disapproval of his stance regarding Operation Sindoor. Earlier, he had clarified that he is not "leaping to join Prime Minister's party' after an article written by him praising PM Narendra Modi was slammed by his party colleagues. In a cryptic post on X, he said "Don't ask permission to fly. The wings are yours and the sky belongs to no one." Earlier, Tharoor's remark about surgical strikes that India has conducted in the last decade during his visit as a part of the Operation Sindoor delegation had not gone down well with his party. The Congress party was quick to highlight that the surgical strikes that were conducted before 2014 as well, with Congress leader Pawan Khera publically criticising him. “I have been working in Congress for the past 16 years. I have some differences of opinion with the party, and I will discuss them inside the party," Tharoor had said after returning to India.