Shashi Tharoor Dismisses Congress Amid Controversy Over his Surgical Strike Comment Saying that he has Better Things To Do

Shashi Tharoor Brushes Off Backlash as Congress Distances Itself From His Surgical Strike Remark

On Thursday Shashi Tharoor, a senior Congress MP and well-known diplomat addressed a brewing controversy regarding his comments regarding India’s 2016 surgical strikes. Tharoor made it clear that people were misinterpreting and taking his remarks out of context. He claimed that rather than referring to the past history of cross-border operations he was particularly referring to the more recent military operations carried out into Pakistan. 

A day earlier on Wednesday Tharoor had made headlines when he asserted that since the deadly Uri terrorist attack in 2016 India had crossed the Line of Control (LoC) for the first time to carry out a surgical strike under the current government. Some people thought that his remarks ignored or disregarded earlier Indian military operations across the Line of Control. 

I have to leave for Bogotá Colombia in six hours after a long and successful day in Panama so I don’t really have time for this – but anyway: for those zealots fulminating about my supposed ignorance of Indian valour across the LoC in the past Tharoor wrote in response to the criticism on X (formerly Twitter). His tweet was directed at people who said he was disparaging the past sacrifices and efforts made by the Indian military. 

I made it very clear that I was talking about retaliation for terrorist attacks and not about previous conflicts, he added. Previous Indian responses to the many attacks that have taken place in the last few years alone were restrained and constrained by our responsible respect for the Line of Control and the International Border (IB). Tharoor emphasized that his comments were pertinent and centered on the most recent strategic change in military strategy following 2016. 

As is customary however trolls and critics are free to misrepresent my views and assertions however they see fit. In his late-night post Tharoor ended with a curt Goodnight saying I really have better things to do.

After a long and successful day in Panama, i have to wind up at midnightvhere with departure for Bogota, Colombia in six hours, so I don’t really have time for this — but anyway: For those zealots fulminating about my supposed ignorance of Indian valour across the LoC: in tge…

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) May 29, 2025

Shashi Tharoor’s Remark on the Surgical Strike

Earlier this week while speaking to an audience as a member of an all-party delegation Tharoor made the initial remark that set off the backlash. He claimed that following the Uri strike in September 2016 India had for the first time crossed the Line of Control (LoC) between Pakistan and India to carry out a surgical strike on a terror base and a launch pad. 19 Indian soldiers were killed in the Uri attack which was a major shift in India’s military response strategy. 

“That was something we had never done before,” he added emphatically. This implied that intentional and overt breaches of the Line of Control targeted at terrorist launchpads had not been a part of earlier Indian responses to cross-border terrorism. 

Tharoor said Even during the Kargil War we had not crossed the Line of Control. He claimed that India had shown restraint by not breaking the LoC even during large-scale military operations like Kargil in 1999. 

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Jumping in with Congratulations

However some of his own party members were offended by Tharoor’s remarks and promptly took action to correct the record and disassociate themselves from his claims. The Congress party reacted angrily claiming that Tharoor’s statements were untrue and could damage the legitimacy of previous military operations. 

In October 2016 then-foreign secretary S. Jaishankar reportedly told a parliamentary committee that the Indian Army had previously conducted target-specific limited-calibre counter-terrorist operations across the Line of Control. Party spokesperson Pawan Khera cited media reports to support his claim. Khera claims that these existed before the widely reported 2016 operation.

Udit Raj a fellow Congressman added to the internal criticism by mockingly stating that Tharoor’s seemingly strong defense of the current government’s foreign policy record should make the BJP think about appointing him as External Affairs Minister. Rajs statement brought attention to the continuous conflict within the Congress over Tharoor’s frequent departures from party lines. 

The Congress leader Jairam Ramesh concluded by publicly endorsing the criticism of Tharoor’s handling of the surgical strike issue echoing Udit Raj’s views. The complicated dynamics within the Congress party and the divisive figure Tharoor frequently represents within its ranks have once again come into sharp relief thanks to this episode.