Tharoor visits Russia, meets foreign minister Sergey Lavrov
New Delhi Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, currently at the centre of a row within the party, is on a private visit to Russia to promote a documentary series based on his book 'Inglorious Empire' and has had meetings with key members of the Russian leadership such as foreign minister Sergey Lavrov. Congress leader Shashi Tharoor during a meeting with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, on the sidelines of the Primakov Readings, in Moscow. (PTI)
Tharoor is in Russia at the invitation of Russia's state-run television network RT, which produced the 10-part series based on his 2017 book, which itself was based on a speech he made at the 2015 Oxford Union debate on the theme 'Does Britain owe reparations to its former colonies?'.
He arrived in Russia on June 21 and participated in the St Petersburg Economic Forum before travelling to Moscow, where he met Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the committee on international affairs of the State Duma or lower house of Parliament, on June 23. On the same day, Tharoor also met the Indian diaspora at the Indian embassy.
Tharoor met foreign minister Lavrov on the margins of the Primakov Readings, an annual international meeting focused on international relations and the world economy, on June 24. On Wednesday, Tharoor met Konstantin Kosachev, chair of the foreign affairs committee of the upper house of Parliament, and members of the Malayalee diaspora in Russia.
While much of the focus has been on the documentary series, set to be aired by RT sometime in the third quarter of the year, Tharoor has briefed the senior Russian officials he met on India's fight against terrorism against the backdrop of Operation Sindoor and discussed issues such as the Iran-Isreal conflict, the situation in Gaza and India-Russia relations, people familiar with the matter said.
Tharoor recently played a similar role when he led one of seven all-party delegations sent by the government to 33 countries to brief interlocutors about India's new approach to fighting terrorism as exemplified by Operation Sindoor, which was launched on May 7 to target terrorist infrastructure in territories controlled by Pakistan in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack in April.
The 10-part series based on Tharoor's book will cover British colonialism, its impact on India, and the way the colonialism unfolded and ended.
During Tharoor's meeting with Slutsky on June 23, the two sides discussed 'pressing international issues, including ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, the crisis in Ukraine, and the recent escalation in tensions between India and Pakistan', RT said on social media.
'India is a key member of BRICS. It is essential that we begin serious discussions about developing a parliamentary dimension within BRICS in the near future,' Slutsky said.
'Good to renew my acquaintance with my Russian counterpart, Mr Slutsky, who had visited Parliament in New Delhi a few months ago with a Russian delegation. We exchanged views on regional peace, #OperationSindoor and possible avenues of future parliamentary cooperation,' Tharoor said on social media.
Tharoor's visit to Russia coincided with a controversy within the Congress party triggered by his praise for Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a recent newspaper article on the lessons from the Indian government's global outreach on Operation Sindoor. The article was reposted on social media by the official handle of the Prime Minister's Office, drawing criticism from Congress circles.
In his first response to the controversy, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, without directly referring to Tharoor, said for the party, it is 'country first', but for some individuals, it is 'Modi first'. Soon after, Tharoor appeared to respond to Kharge's comments with a social media post that said: 'Don't ask permission to fly. The wings are yours. And the sky belongs to no one…'
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