Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Friday said that US relations with Pakistan are separate from its relationship with India, a position he said India also supports.
While talking about the recent praise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi by Donald Trump, Tharoor said that the US President is conveying a message of “friendship and warmth” towards India.
Speaking to news agency PTI, the Congress leader said: “I think Trump is definitely conveying a message of friendship and warmth towards India. You know, Americans always like to say that our relations with Pakistan have nothing to do with our relations with India. That is also our view that there should be no hyphen.”
Tharoor added that India had told world leaders several years ago that any visit to New Delhi should be strictly bilateral and not be coupled with a visit to Pakistan. He said US President Donald Trump appears to reflect a similar approach.
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He further noted that while Trump often praises Pakistan and its leaders, he also does not hesitate to speak positively about India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“We stopped this hyphenation business about 30 years ago by telling world leaders that when you come to India, please do not come through Pakistan. And when you come to India, make it a bilateral visit. And now Mr. Trump seems to be implying the same thing. Yes, he says great things about Pakistan and General Asim Munir and so on, but he also says great things about Mr. Modi,” he said.
Tharoor stressed that the reality that India must get used to is that countries can maintain good relations with multiple partners at the same time. “Why can’t we have good relations with both? It’s a proposition we have to get used to,” he said, noting that India does not seek America’s approval when it deals with countries like China or Russia. In the same way, he added, the United States is also free to pursue its own relations independently.
“I mean, after all, we don’t ask the Americans when we go to China or have a meeting in Moscow or anything else. We have our own independent relations with Russia and China, which are not mediated through America.”
However, Tharoor added that he hopes America does not do anything that goes against India’s interests.
“In the same way, let America have its own relations, but as a friend, we hope that America will not do anything that works against India’s interests. As long as that is the case, we have no veto power over their relationship with anyone, nor do they have veto power over our relationship with anyone. We just continue to do our own things as countries.”
In the meeting between Modi and Trump
Regarding Prime Minister Modi’s meeting with Trump on the sidelines of the G7 summit, Tharoor said, according to his sources, that the meeting took place in a friendly and warm atmosphere.
“It seems to have gone a long way toward improving relations again between the two countries, because the comments I received from various sources on both sides indicate that the meeting took place in a very friendly and warm atmosphere, and that Mr. Trump was particularly friendly in his statements, which was not always the case, as I said, in the past or even last year.”
He pointed out that the reality of the world is that the United States remains an “indispensable” power and India cannot turn its back on it, even if it is dissatisfied with some American actions.
“The reality of the world is that the United States is an indispensable power, and India cannot turn its back on the United States, even if there are some actions and statements that may have hurt our sentiments.”
Regarding Prime Minister Modi’s communication with Trump regarding the Indian sailors killed in the conflict, Tharoor said the situation should be “appreciated by all warring parties.”
“When it comes to Indian sailors, the Prime Minister has made his point forcefully, both in public discourse and privately, that you have to understand that we have sailors on various ships. It was not an Indian ship, but even on ships flying flags of other countries, there are a lot of Indian crew and sailors. As long as they are civilians doing commercial shipping, they should not be treated like combatants in a war. And I think that point is something that all belligerents in a war should appreciate.”
“Fortunately, this conflict has now seen some kind of ceasefire, and they are talking about a possible formal agreement that will go into a 60-day negotiation period. I think all of us, and certainly India, hope that the peace will hold and that we will have a long-term peace in the region, in which case this issue remains theoretical or academic. But as a general principle, what Mr Modi said is true – that sailors should be exempt from combat attacks.”
(With inputs from PTI)
