Once again Shashi Tharoor embarrassed the Congress and distanced self from party senior leader Rahul Gandhi’s views on the country’s economy. After the Leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi echoed US President Donald Trump’s take on the Indian economy, Shashi Tharoor chose not to react on his endorsement, but maintained that we must support Indian negotiators for a trade deal as US was a key trading partner of the country.

Speaking to media persons on Thursday, Rahul Gandhi had agreed with the Trump view of the Indian economy that it was “dead”. In a scathing attack on Indian economy, perhaps in reaction to the Indian purchases of Russian oil India, Donald Trump described the economies of India and Russia as “dead”.

When asked about it by media persons, Rahul Gandhi said, “Yes, he is right, Everybody knows this except the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister. Everybody knows that the Indian economy is a dead economy. I am glad that President Trump has stated a fact… The entire world knows that the Indian economy is a dead economy. BJP has finished the economy to help Adani…”

Now, Tharoor waded into the conversation on his issue when media persons asked him to comment on this issue on Saturday. When asked, to explain Rahul Gandhi’s statement, Tharoor replied  “I don’t want to comment on what my party leader has said. He has his reasons for saying so.”

Now, this is being read in political circles as one more instance of Tharoor stepping out of line with the official Congress line as set by its leader, Rahul Gandhi. He recently hit back, challenging the credibility of his critics and refusing to justify their accusations. “Those making such statements should clarify their basis… Who are they? What is their position in the party? I’d like to know,” Tharoor told reporters, adding, “Don’t ask me to explain others’ behaviour – speak to them. I can only speak for myself.” His remarks came a day after senior Congress leaders Rajmohan Unnithan and K. Muraleedharan accused him of undermining the party and echoing the Modi government’s stance on key issues.

Elaborating on his view of Indo-US relations, Tharoor told reporters that “My concern is that our relationship with the US, as a strategic and economic partnership. It is important for us. We are exporting around $ 90 billion worth of goods to America. We can’t be in a position to lose that or have it diminish significantly… We must wish our negotiators strength to get a fair deal for India. We should also be talking to other regions for exporting our goods. Then we could make up for some of what we might lose in the US… We have to support our negotiators.”