'Strategic restraint or missed opportunity?': Shashi Tharoor veiled swipe at India’s role at Gaza Peace Summit

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday appeared to take a veiled swipe at the government over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to skip the Gaza Peace Summit in Egypt, questioning India’s limited representation at the high-profile gathering of world leaders.

With Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh representing India at the summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Tharoor noted that the country’s participation “stands in stark contrast to the galaxy of grandees” attending the event.

Taking to X, the Congress MP wrote, “Strategic restraint or missed opportunity?” — a pointed remark reflecting his unease over India’s diplomatic positioning.

India’s presence at the Sharm el-Sheikh Gaza peace summit, at the level of a Minister of State, stands in stark contrast to the heads of state gathered there. Strategic restraint or missed opportunity?

This is no reflection on Kirti Vardhan Singh, whose competence is not in…

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— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) October 13, 2025

Clarifying that his comments were not directed at Singh personally, Tharoor said the decision might “signal a preference for strategic distance” that does not align with India’s stated foreign policy stance.

“For reasons of protocol access alone, India’s voice at the summit on reconstruction and stability issues may carry less weight than it could have,” he added, describing India’s “relative absence” from the high-level forum as “puzzling, in a region that is reshaping itself.”

The Sharm el-Sheikh Peace Summit, co-chaired by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and US. President Donald Trump, brought together nearly 20 heads of state to discuss post-conflict reconstruction and stability in Gaza, following the release of the remaining Israeli hostages.