New Delhi: Senior Congress MP and former UN Under-Secretary-General Shashi Tharoor has embarked on yet another significant foreign visit, this time covering Russia, the United Kingdom, and Greece. His departure follows a high-profile one-on-one meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week, sparking speculation about the strategic importance of this tour.
Tharoor’s travel comes shortly after his leadership of Operation Sindoor—a high-stakes all-party diplomatic mission that toured five western nations, including the United States, under direct nomination by PM Modi. That initiative, part of India’s wider outreach across 32 countries, was praised as a unifying effort to present India’s perspective on global platforms during a turbulent geopolitical phase.
Though the government has not formally disclosed the agenda of this second leg of Tharoor’s travels, sources suggest that the trip bears diplomatic weight. The timing is notable, coinciding with a recent dinner hosted by the Prime Minister at 7 Lok Kalyan Marg for all delegation leaders, during which Modi thanked them for articulating India’s position internationally.
Adding to the intrigue, Tharoor recently penned an article in The Hindu commending Modi’s leadership style, energy, and global engagement—comments that drew praise from the Prime Minister’s Office, which shared the article publicly on social media. While his admiration for Modi has been well-noted, it has also stirred discomfort within sections of the Congress party, with some party members voicing concerns over his growing proximity to the ruling establishment.
In a brief media interaction from St. Petersburg, Russia, Tharoor commented on the ongoing Iran-Israel conflict and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. “India wants peaceful resolutions across the world. We would never want this war to last any longer,” he told RT Hindi. “We do not want terrorism to survive in this world. But at the same time, people need humanitarian aid. It is essential that the wars should end quickly. You know, 55,000 civilians have died in Gaza.”
