Restraint not surrender: Shashi Tharoor differs with Sonia Gandhi on Centre’s Iran silence

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Mar 20, 2026: While the Congress party has been constantly attacking the central government for maintaining “silence" on the US-Israel-Iran war, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor broke ranks with his party by extending support to the BJP-led government’s stance on the conflict, describing it as “responsible statecraft" rather than a moral retreat.

Speaking to ANI, the Thiruvananthapuram MP said if he had to advise a Congress government, he would ask it to act with restraint at this time –  same as what the central government is currently doing. “Restraint is not surrender; it’s a strength," he said.

“If I were advising a Congress government, my advice would be to act with restraint at this time. Restraint is not surrender; it’s a strength, a way of showing that we know what our interests are and will act first and foremost to protect them," Tharoor told ANI.

It is pertinent to note that before Tharoor’s statement, veteran Congress leader Sonia Gandhi had questioned the central government and its foreign policy, saying this “raises serious doubts about the direction and credibility of our foreign policy".

Shashi Tharoor Differs With Sonia Gandhi

Earlier, in a column for Indian Express, Sonia Gandhi questioned the central government’s silence on the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. She asserted that the government’s silence, in this case, is not “neutral" but an “abdication".

She wrote that New Delhi’s ties with Tehran are “civilisational as well as strategic" and reminded the Narendra Modi government of the several occasions Iran came to India’s aid.

“The killing of a sitting head of state in the midst of ongoing negotiations marks a grave rupture in contemporary international relations," Gandhi said.

However, the former UPA chairperson’s stand did not stop Tharoor from choosing to back the centre’s position on the West Asia conflict, as he said that there is a “difference between condemnation and condolence… condolence is an expression of sympathy," he noted.

Meanwhile, Congress MP Manish Tewari also backed the central government on Thursday for India’s stance on the ongoing conflict in West Asia, stressing New Delhi has always been a marginal player in the region.

“It’s important to understand that there is not one war which is happening in West Asia. There are multiple wars which are taking place…. What is happening between Israel and Iran and the United States, taking a side, is not about just the Middle East dynamic on its own… Well, it’s not our war. We’ve always been rather marginal players in the greater Middle East…" Tewari said.