New Delhi [India], March 20 : Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Friday said that India issuing a timely condolence on the assassination of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would have been the "most appropriate thing to do" even if the US-Israeli action was not condemned.
He also said that the government must act with restraint during times of such raging conflict, asserting that he would have advised the same to a Congress government.
Responding to whether India should have issued condolences on the killing of Iran's Khamenei, Tharoor told ANI, "I agree with the critics. The very first day of the conflict, when Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei was killed, we should have expressed our condolences. That would have been the most appropriate thing to do. It would have been the right thing to do given his role in the country."
The Congress MP further recalled India's position after former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash in 2024.
"When President Raisi died in the helicopter crash, we immediately declared mourning and issued condolences. However, I am glad that when the Iranian Embassy in Delhi opened a condolence book, our Foreign Secretary was sent immediately to express condolences," Tharoor said.
He explained the difference between condolence and condemnation, suggesting that while not condemning, the US-Israeli action against Iran was fine, India could at least have expressed sympathy for the bereaved.
"There's a difference between condolence and condemnation. If you feel politically that you are not going to condemn what the American-Israeli attack has done, that's fine. However, condolence is an expression of sympathy for the bereaved one and to the government and people of Iran. That's something we could have done," Tharoor said.
When asked about his article published in an English daily differing from his party's stand on India's diplomatic actions, the Congress leader said that being in opposition allows one to take a moral stand, but advised that the government must practice "restraint as strength".
"I fully appreciate what Sonia Gandhi and others in the opposition have said because we, as the opposition, can take a moral stand. The article is more about what the government should do. Frankly, even if I were advising a Congress government, my advice would be to act with restraint at this time. Restraint is not surrender, it is a strength, a way of showing that we know what our interests are and will act first and foremost to protect them," Tharoor said.
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