It seems that the Congress is once again divided, but this time over the ongoing conflict between the United States (US), Israel and Iran in the Middle East, with veteran leader Shashi Tharoor backing the Centre's stance on the war. Tharoor, a Lok Sabha MP from Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram, said that India should have condoled the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, though.
"If I were advising a Congress government, my advice would be to act with restraint at this time. Restraint is not surrender, it’s a strength, a way of showing that we know what our interests are and will act first and foremost to protect them," the senior Congress MP told news agency ANI.
According to Tharoor, the conflict in the Middle East will have an impact on the Indian economy, with it being an "knock-on effect". He stressed that India must diversify its energy sources and sign more trade agreements to tackle this issue. Tharoor also pointed out that India does not have a "whole lot of options" if the conflict continues to drag on.
"So there is a genuine problem... it's affecting all of us. Secondly, there is a knock-on effect for all economic activity," he said. "You find that oil prices have shot up. It was USD 64 a barrel for crude oil when the war began. Today, it's been alternating between USD 100 and USD 120. We're looking at a very serious situation of petrol inflation."
Tharoor differs over Sonia Gandhi's remarks
70-year-old Tharoor was responding to the recent to Congress veteran Sonia Gandhi's recent column in a newspaper in which she criticised India's silence over Khamenei's killing. As per the Rajya Sabha MP, India has had "civilisational" and "strategic" ties with Iran, calling New Delhi's silence an "abdication" and not "neutral".
"Ignoring the massive US-Israeli onslaught, the Prime Minister confined himself to condemning Iran’s retaliatory strike on the UAE, without addressing the sequence of events that preceded it," Gandhi wrote in her column.
India had initially remained silent on Khamenei, but later expressed condolences, with Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri visiting the Iranian Embassy in New Delhi. India, though, has repeatedly called for a de-escalation and said that all issues must be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also regularly spoke with Gulf leaders, reiterating India's call for a peaceful solution.
ALSO READ - Israel-Iran conflict: DGCA asks airlines to avoid 11 airspaces, ensure robust contingency plans
