Shashi Tharoor questions PM Modi’s absence from Gaza summit: ‘Strategic restraint or…’
Tharoor clarified that his remarks “do not reflect on Kirti Vardhan Singh, whose competence has not been questioned”, but stressed that the scale and nature of the summit required a higher level of representation from India. Read on for more information on this subject.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor expressed concern over India’s decision to be represented by a Minister of State for External Affairs at the Gaza Peace Summit in Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday, which will be attended by many world leaders and heads of state, and said, “Our relative absence is puzzling.” In a post on X, Tharoor questioned whether India’s representation at an important international forum reflected a stance of “strategic restraint or a missed opportunity”. “India’s presence at the Ministerial level at the Sharm el-Sheikh Gaza peace summit is in stark contrast to the heads of state gathered there. Strategic constraint or missed opportunity?” Tharoor wrote.
He clarified that his remarks were “not a reflection on Kirti Vardhan Singh, whose competence has not been questioned” but stressed that the scale and nature of the summit required a higher level of representation from India. “Given the galaxy of existing majors, India’s choice could be seen as signaling a preference for strategic distance, which our statements do not reflect,” Tharoor said. He added that the protocol and access levels could have an impact on India’s weight in shaping discussions on critical issues such as the reconstruction of Gaza and long-term regional peace. Tharoor concluded: “And because of protocol access alone, India’s voice at the Summit on reconstruction and regional stability may carry less weight than it might. Our relative absence in a region that is reshaping itself is puzzling.”
His remarks came after Kirti Vardhan Singh announced that he would be arriving in Cairo, Egypt, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s special representative to attend the Gaza Peace Summit. “He arrived in the historic city of Cairo as the special representative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the Gaza Peace Summit in Sharm El Sheikh,” Singh said in a post on channel X. The summit will bring together leading global leaders, including US President Donald Trump, and other notable figures from the Middle East and beyond. All 20 living hostages were released by Hamas earlier in the day as part of the Gaza peace plan.
(Except for the title, this news has not been edited by the DNA team and is published from ANI news agency).
