During the Raisina Dialogue 2025 in New Delhi on 18th March, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said that he seems to be wiping egg off his face conceding that despite himself calling for the condemnation of Russia’s war with Ukraine and objecting to the Indian government’s continuation of business with Russia, three years later India is in a unique position to be friendly with both countries and be welcomed by both leaders.
“I am still wiping the egg off my face because I was one person in the parliamentary debate who actually criticized the Indian position at the time back in February 2022,” Tharoor said.
Explaining his reasoning for condemning the war, Tharoor continued “On the well-worn grounds that Espen (Norway’s Foreign Minister) will understand because he and I talked about all this in my UN days, that there was a violation of the UN Charter, sovereignty of a member state, namely Ukraine, and we had always stood for the that there had been a violation of the principle of the inviolability of borders of a sovereign state, inadmissibility of the use of force to settle international disputes and all of those principles had been violated by one party, and we should have condemned it.”
"3 years back, I criticised Govt's approach. But, today I'm wiping the EGG on my face.
— The Analyzer (News Updates?️) (@Indian_Analyzer) March 19, 2025
~ India has a Prime Minister who can hug both the president of Ukraine & Russia, two weeks apart & be accepted in both places."?
PM Modi needs new Haters, the old ones have become Fans? pic.twitter.com/vWK9WOlp1g
“Well, 3 years later, it does look like I am the one with egg on my face because clearly the policy has meant that India has actually a Prime Minister who can hug both the president of Ukraine and the president of Moscow two weeks apart and be accepted in both places and therefore India is in a position where it can make a difference to a lasting peace if it was so required in ways that very few countries would be able to,” Tharoor added.
