A fresh war of words has broken out within the Congress after senior leader Shashi Tharoor’s remarks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s handling of the issue of Indian sailors killed in the Gulf of Oman drew criticism from party colleague Pawan Khera. The controversy began after Tharoor was reported as saying that Prime Minister Modi had raised concerns about the safety of civilian sailors during both his public and private interactions with the president
“It is important to convey the message that in wartime, civilian sailors on commercial ships should not be targets of combat. They are not soldiers, and that is the message PM Modi conveyed,” Tharoor was quoted as saying.
His remarks prompted a sharp response from Congress leader Pawan Khera, who suggested that Tharoor had attributed statements to the Prime Minister that did not appear in the official record.
Taking to X, Khera wrote, “My senior colleague Dr Shashi Tharoor’s admiration for PM Modi appears to have transcended the limitations of the physical world. He now seems capable of hearing what Modi doesn’t even say.”
Khera pointed out that the official Ministry of External Affairs readout of Prime Minister Modi’s meeting with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G7 Summit contained no mention of the deaths of three Indian sailors in the Gulf of Oman.
“This was the first Modi-Trump meeting after Operation Sindoor, yet there is no indication that Modi challenged Trump’s repeated claim, now made over 120 times, that he secured a ceasefire by threatening India with trade consequences,” Khera said.
He also noted that there was no reference in the official statement to the alleged attack on the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena, which had earlier participated in MILAN-2026 as India’s guest.
“And yet, Tharoor ji somehow heard forceful assertions, robust pushback and uncompromising diplomacy that never made it into the official record. Perhaps the rest of us are constrained by ordinary human senses. For devotees of the ‘Maha-Maanav Modi’, the less he says, the more they hear,” Khera remarked.
Tharoor swiftly hit back, describing it as “extraordinary” that a statement concerning the safety of Indian citizens had been turned into a partisan political issue.
“Three Indians lost their lives. My remarks were about the safety of our citizens and the principle that civilian seafarers should never be targets of military action,” he said.
“If some people are more interested in scoring political points than addressing that concern, that says more about them than it does about me. Concern for Indian lives should unite us, not divide us,” the Thiruvananthapuram MP added.
Later, Tharoor posted a video clip and further clarified that he had not attributed any words to the Prime Minister beyond what had already been reported in the media.
“For those who believe I ‘heard’ words that @narendramodi never said at the G-7, I was merely alluding to widely published reports about his remarks. If you want to hear a report, here’s one,” he wrote on X while sharing a media report.
Tharoor also posted what he described as a Google Gemini-generated summary, which stated that during the G7 Outreach Session in Evian, France, Prime Minister Modi had raised concerns about the safety of civilian seafarers and the security of global shipping routes following the Gulf of Oman incident in which three Indian sailors were killed.
Defending his position, Tharoor said he stood by his understanding of the reports.
“I have never in my life been accused of misrepresenting or distorting any facts or statements and I stand by my summary of what I read in the print media about these remarks, which were reportedly made when our PM was seated next to @realDonaldTrump,” he said.
The political exchange also drew a response from the BJP. Party national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla claimed that Tharoor’s remarks contradicted the position taken by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on the issue.
“It is embarrassing. Yesterday was Rahul Gandhi’s birthday, but he did not receive any gift. Dr Shashi Tharoor contradicted Rahul Gandhi’s stand on the same issue, saying Prime Minister Modi articulated India’s position on the sailors’ issue very forcefully before President Trump and conveyed the country’s stance effectively,” Poonawalla said in a video statement.
He further claimed that Tharoor had repeatedly praised Prime Minister Modi’s leadership and vision, while taking a swipe at the Congress over its projection of Rahul Gandhi as a future prime ministerial candidate.
The episode has once again highlighted differences within the Congress over Tharoor’s public comments on Prime Minister Modi, with the latest exchange triggering a sharp debate between party leaders and drawing political reactions from the BJP.
(With agencies’ inputs)
