Meeting someone abroad doesn’t imply endorsement of views: Tharoor after ‘Rahul-Corbyn row’

PTI, May 25, 2022, 6:23 PM IST

In diplomacy, engaging with someone who holds hostile views may be performing a more useful service to the country than only meeting friends or those already on your side, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said on Wednesday after Rahul Gandhi’s meeting with British Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in London triggered a row here.

Taking exception to the Gandhi’s meeting with the hard left leader, BJP on Tuesday asked him whether he endorsed the UK opposition leader’s ”anti-India” views.

The Congress justified Gandhi’s meeting and shared pictures of Corbyn with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ask whether he too endorsed the ”anti-India” views of the UK Labour leader and MP.

In an apparent reference to the row without taking any names, Tharoor said when visiting a democracy, meeting leaders from opposition parties is a normal process, especially when the visitor is from a democracy too.

”Meeting someone abroad is an act of courtesy that does not imply endorsement of all his ideas & views,” Tharoor said in a tweet.

”In diplomacy, if you engage with someone who holds hostile views, you may be performing a more useful service to your country than if you only meet people who are your friends or already are on your side,” the MP from Thiruvananthapuram said.

Gandhi had met Corbyn on Monday and the Indian Overseas Congress shared the picture of the two along with Sam Pitroda.

Corbyn served as Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from 2015 to 2020.