Congress MP Shashi Tharoor’s defence of the Modi government’s “restraint” in the Iran–US–Israel conflict, framed as “not surrender,” has drawn sharp criticism from within his own party and unexpected praise from the ruling BJP. Tharoor has argued that India’s silence on the West Asia war is a calculated exercise of “responsible statecraft” rather than a moral retreat, and the BJP has swiftly used his remarks to highlight what it calls the Congress’s double‑speak on foreign policy.

Tharoor, in an op‑ed and subsequent media interviews, acknowledged that the US–Israel strikes on Iran are difficult to justify under international law and violate principles India has long upheld, such as sovereignty and non‑aggression. Yet he insisted that New Delhi’s restrained posture reflects strategic prudence, designed to protect India’s economic ties, energy security, and the welfare of its nine‑million‑strong diaspora in the Gulf. “Restraint is not surrender,” he told ANI, “it shows that we know what our interests are and we will act first of all to protect our interests.”​

A career diplomat, Tharoor warned that under a mercurial Donald Trump the United States is an unreliable ally that can lash out if publicly opposed, yet India still needs stable ties with Washington for defence, technology and as a counterweight to China. At the same time, he stressed that India’s nearly $200 billion in annual trade with the Gulf, its energy imports, and remittances from overseas workers would be highly vulnerable if New Delhi indulged in “sanctimonious moralising” over the conflict. On this basis, he contends that measured silence can be a strategy, allowing India to keep channels open with all sides while calling constructively for peace.

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These comments have set Tharoor at odds with sections of the Congress leadership, including Sonia Gandhi, who have criticised the government’s muted response as a moral failure. Senior Congress figures have in private questioned the optics of one of their most prominent diplomats backing the ruling dispensation’s stance on a highly sensitive foreign‑policy issue even as the party officially calls for a more principled condemnation. Within the Congress, the episode has reignited debates about whether the party should prioritise vocal moral posturing or a more realist, interest‑driven approach reminiscent of earlier Nehruvian statecraft.

The BJP, by contrast, has welcomed Tharoor’s intervention as an implicit endorsement of the Modi government’s foreign‑policy maturity. Party leaders have quoted his line that restraint “is not surrender” to depict the Congress as inconsistent and India‑First, while also highlighting the diplomatic skill needed to balance relations with Washington, Tel Aviv and Tehran. For the BJP, Tharoor’s backing of strategic silence becomes a talking point to argue that the government’s approach has cross‑party validation, even as it continues to accuse the Congress of knee‑jerk condemnation with little regard for India’s economic and security stakes.

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