Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday urged external affairs minister S Jaishankar to “cool a little bit” after the latter criticised the West over its “bad habit” of commenting on other countries. Tharoor, a former international civil servant, opined that “we need not be so thin-skinned” and advised the government to “learn to take some things in stride.”
“I have known him for a long time and I consider him as a friend but on this issue, I think we need not be so thin-skinned. I think it’s very important that as a government we learn to take some things in stride. If we start reacting to every comment, we are really doing ourselves a disservice,” Tharoor said while speaking to ANI in Parliament complex in New Delhi.
“I will strongly urge my good friend Jai to cool a little bit,” he added.
The Lok Sabha MP from Thiruvananthapuram further stated that “it is one thing you say in a park for a bunch of youngsters but when that resonates around the world it doesn’t play very well.”
On Sunday, Jaishankar said that the West has had a “bad habit” for a long time, of commenting on others, and it thinks it has a “God-given right” to speak about the internal matters of other countries. He was interacting with over 500 young voters, joggers and visitors at Cubbon Park in Bengaluru.
When asked about his reaction to Germany and the US’ remarks on the disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as a member of Parliament, Jaishankar said, “There are two reasons. It is because the West has had a bad habit for a long time of commenting on others. They somehow think it is some kind of God-given right. They will have to learn only by experience that if you keep doing this, other people will also start commenting and they will not like it when it happens. I see that happening.”
“The second part of the truth — in our arguments, you are inviting the people to comment on you. Then more and more people are tempted to comment. We also need to stop giving generous invitations to the world saying there are problems in India; America and Europe, why are you standing by and doing nothing? “So if somebody from here goes and says ‘why are you standing by and saying nothing’, then obviously they are going to comment. Part of the problem is them, part of the problem is us. And I think both need fixing,” he added.
The ‘Meet and Greet’ interaction organised by Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya and Bengaluru Central MP P C Mohan.
