The Congress on Saturday targeted senior party leader Shashi Tharoor over his reported remarks praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s handling of concerns relating to Indian civilian sailors, with party leader Pawan Khera taking a swipe that Tharoor’s admiration for the Prime Minister had “transcended the physical world”.

Tharoor hit back, calling it “extraordinary” that remarks concerning the safety of Indian citizens had been given a partisan colour. The controversy also prompted the BJP to accuse the Congress MP of contradicting Rahul Gandhi’s position on the issue.

Row Triggered by Remarks on Safety of Indian Sailors

The controversy began after Tharoor was quoted as saying that Prime Minister Modi had raised concerns regarding the safety of civilian sailors during both his public and private interactions with the US President.

“It is important to convey the message that in wartime, civilian sailors on commercial ships should not be targets of combat. They are not soldiers, and that is the message PM Modi conveyed,” Tharoor was quoted as saying.

Responding to criticism on X, the Thiruvananthapuram MP said the issue was being unnecessarily politicised.

“Three Indians lost their lives. My remarks were about the safety of our citizens and the principle that civilian seafarers should never be targets of military action,” he said.

“If some people are more interested in scoring political points than addressing that concern, that says more about them than it does about me,” Tharoor added.

He asserted that concern for Indian lives should unite people rather than divide them.

Pawan Khera Questions Tharoor’s Interpretation

Sharing a video clip of his remarks on X, Congress leader Pawan Khera launched a sharp attack on his party colleague.

“My senior colleague Dr Shashi Tharoor’s admiration for PM Modi appears to have transcended the limitations of the physical world. He now seems capable of hearing what Modi doesn’t even say,” Khera said.

Referring to the Ministry of External Affairs’ official account of Prime Minister Modi’s meeting with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G7 Summit, Khera said there was no mention of the killing of three Indian sailors in the Gulf of Oman.

He also claimed there was no indication that Modi had challenged Trump’s repeated assertion that he had helped secure a ceasefire by threatening India with trade-related consequences.

Khera further said the official readout made no mention of the alleged attack on the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena, which had participated in MILAN-2026.

“And yet, Tharoor ji somehow heard forceful assertions, robust pushback and uncompromising diplomacy that never made it into the official record. Perhaps the rest of us are constrained by ordinary human senses. For devotees of the ‘Maha-Maanav Modi’, the less he says, the more they hear,” Khera said.

Tharoor Says He Relied on Media Reports

In an apparent response to Khera, Tharoor said he had merely referred to media reports and had not attributed any comments to the Prime Minister that were not already in the public domain.

“For those who believe I ‘heard’ words that @narendramodi never said at the G-7, I was merely alluding to widely published reports about his remarks. If you want to hear a report, here’s one,” he wrote on X while sharing a YouTube link.

Tharoor also posted what he said was a summary generated by Google Gemini, which stated that Prime Minister Modi had raised concerns over the safety of civilian seafarers and the security of shipping routes during the G7 Outreach Session in Evian, France.

The summary referred to the Gulf of Oman incident in which three Indian sailors were killed following a strike on the merchant vessel Settebello.

Defending his position, Tharoor said he stood by his interpretation of the reports.

“I have never in my life been accused of misrepresenting or distorting any facts or statements and I stand by my summary of what I read in the print media about these remarks, which were reportedly made when our PM was seated next to @realDonaldTrump,” he said.

BJP Sees Contradiction With Rahul Gandhi’s Stand

BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said Tharoor’s remarks had contradicted the position taken by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

In a video statement, Poonawalla claimed Tharoor had acknowledged that Prime Minister Modi forcefully presented India’s position on the issue of the sailors before the US President.

“It is embarrassing. Yesterday was Rahul Gandhi’s birthday, but he did not receive any gift. Dr Shashi Tharoor contradicted Rahul Gandhi’s stand on the same issue, saying Prime Minister Modi articulated India’s position on the sailors’ issue very forcefully before President Trump and conveyed the country’s stance effectively,” he said.

Poonawalla further alleged that Tharoor had repeatedly praised Modi’s leadership and vision and took a swipe at the Congress over its projection of Rahul Gandhi as a future prime ministerial candidate.

The latest exchange highlighted the continuing differences between Tharoor and sections of the Congress leadership, while providing fresh ammunition to the BJP in its attack on the opposition party.

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