Tharoor flags Kerala quake aid to Turkey, Brittas reminds him of Centre's Op Dost
Amid India's global outreach on Operation Sindoor through multi-party delegations, a row erupted in Kerala over the LDF-led state government's financial assistance to Turkey after it was struck by an earthquake in 2023.
While Shashi Tharoor, Congress MP and chairman of Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, criticised the CPI(M)-led Kerala government's `10-crore aid to Turkey two years ago as 'misplaced generosity', the CPI(M)'s Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas called Tharoor's comments 'selective amnesia'.
Both Tharoor and Brittas are members of the delegations on Operation Sindoor sent to various countries to rally global support for India's war against terror emanating from Pakistan.
Tharoor is leading a delegation visiting the US, Panama, Guyana, Brazil and Colombia. Brittas, the CPI(M)'s Rajya Sabha Parliamentary Party leader, is a member of another multi-party team led by JD(U) leader Sanjay Jha, which is headed to Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.
In the backdrop of reports that Pakistan used Turkish-made drones during the conflict with India, Tharoor, in a post on X on Friday, said, 'I hope the government of Kerala reflects on its misplaced generosity, after seeing Turkey's behaviour two years later! Not to mention that the people of Wayanad (just to take one Kerala example) could have used those `10 crores far better.'
Tharoor was also referring to a series of devastating landslides that hit Wayanad, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi's Lok Sabha constituency, in July 2024 that led to around 300 deaths and wiped out large tracts of three villages in the district.
Hitting back at Tharoor over his jibe at the Pinarayi Vijayan government, Brittas said on X: 'Have great regards for Shashi Tharoor. But these comments are symptoms of selective amnesia. It is as amusing n puzzling why he had to belittle Kerala when he knows very well the Narendra Modi government itself had launched Operation Dost to help Turkey. Kerala bashing is unwarranted.'
'Operation Dost' was initiated by the Modi government in 2023 to send aid to Turkey and Syria in the aftermath of a major earthquake that hit the two countries. India had sent relief material, rescue personnel and other supplies, while the Kerala government had received a sanction from the Centre to send `10 crore aid to Turkey.
Referring to Tharoor's criticism of Kerala's aid to Turkey, CPI(M) leader and state Finance Minister K N Balagopal on Saturday said, 'It is not a misplaced generosity. At the time of a major disaster, we had to take a humane approach. The aid was handed over to Turkey through the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). It is wrong to club that gesture of 2023 with the border crisis of 2025. In 2023, the state supported Turkey on humanitarian grounds. Two years later, giving a wrong interpretation for that assistance to Turkey is not the right approach.'
After the Wayanad landslides — to which Tharoor referred to say that the funds given to Turkey could have been used by the state itself — the Kerala government had sought assistance of `2,000 crore from the BJP-led Centre for rebuilding efforts there.
Subsequently, the LDF government had blamed the Centre for not providing a special package for the Wayanad victims. The CPI(M) is currently undertaking a district-wide march in Wayanad to protest the Centre's alleged neglect of the district.
With Turkey facing a backlash in India over its drones being used by Pakistan during the conflict between May 7 and 10, India asked Turkey last Thursday to be sensitive to its concerns.
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