'Congress leaders should follow suit': Ravi Shankar Prasad after Shashi Tharoor's U-turn on Russia-Ukraine war

Ravi Shankar Prasad, Bharatiya Janata Party. (File: PTI)

Decisions of the Narendra Modi government are in the interest of the nation and leaders of the Congress party should follow in the footsteps of their party colleague Shashi Tharoor in reversing their criticism of the government's stand on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Wednesday.

"He (Tharoor) thinks that the statements he made regarding the Russia-Ukraine war in the past were not right. The policies of the Indian government were right... Better late than never... The decisions made by the Modi government are in the favour of the nation... The way Shashi Tharoor has admitted, other leaders of Congress should do the same," Prasad told ANI.

Shashi Tharoor, the Lok Sabha MP from Thiruvananthapuram, said at the Raisina Dialogue that he misjudged India's stand on the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022 and that he has "egg on his face" now that the country has managed to attain a unique position where it is friendly with both Ukraine and Russia.

"I am still wiping the egg off my face because I was one person in the parliamentary debate who actually criticised the Indian position at the time back in February 2022," Tharoor said, referring to the objections he raised in parliament on India's refusal to condemn Russia's actions.

Tharoor said that three years later, the policy has meant that India actually has a Prime Minister who can hug both the president of Ukraine and the president of Moscow two weeks apart and be accepted in both places. "And therefore India is in a position where it can make a difference to a lasting peace if it was so required in ways that very few countries would be able to," he had said.

BJP leader Sambit Patra said that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi should come forward and appreciate Tharoor's position on India's stand on the geopolitical conflict.

"Shashi Tharoor understands diplomacy, he had been in the UN for a very long time. He has appreciated PM Modi's stand in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Other leaders of Congress should also learn from Shashi Tharoor instead of Speaking against PM Modi and the nation every time... Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi should come forward and appreciate Shashi Tharoor's stand," Patra told reporters.