Often surrounded with controversies over his use of words, Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor has said he has been "brought down" as there were "elements in our society who rather revel in bringing down people as well".
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sought to downplay the comments of Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor on austerity on Twitter saying "it was a joke".
Tharoor has nearly 175,000 followers on Twitter. An account that he started when he launched his election campaign now may now cost him dear as voices urging him to log off Twitter keep getting louder by the day.
Perhaps chastised by the recent criticism from his party high command and the general public, Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor has apologised for his recent comment that he was prepared to travel in the "cattle class out of solidarity with all our holy cows".
Author and politician Shashi Tharoor chats with Sumita Vaid Dixit about writing, tweeting and world affairs.
India on Monday said it was not surprised over former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's admission -- of use of United States' military aid against it during his tenure -- and asked countries providing such help to be 'extremely responsible'. "It doesn't come as a surprise. We have been arguing for some years now that the only problem we have with the US military aid to Pakistan is its misuse against us," Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor said.
Speaking to media persons outside his South Block office in New Delhi, Tharoor said: "We know Pakistan has been misusing US aid for years. I am not surprised by former President Musharraf's statement. This confirms India's stand on the misuse of aid. The United States should monitor aid given to Pakistan more carefully."
Seeking to explain the absence of the terror activities directed against India, in the United State's new Af-Pak strategy, India has said the Barack Obama administration was 'looking at' terrorist groups like Lashkar-e-Tayiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad 'off-camera'.Welcoming the Af-Pak policy unveiled on Tuesday, Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor said the pressure maintained by the US on the Taliban and the Al Qaeda there is in the interest of India.
India on Saturday said it wishes to see that 'exemplary punishment' is given to the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, who have been charge-sheeted in a Pakistani anti-terror court.
Scores of Indians and people from other nationalities are missing since the stampede at the annual Hajj near the holy city of Mecca on September 24.
Expect the unexpected when it comes to Test cricket says Indian batting ace Sachin Tendulkar, who recalled how Wasim Akram peppered him with bouncers even as he expected yorkers in his maiden Test series in Pakistan. Tendulkar was speaking in Mumbai on Friday at the launch of a book Shadows across the playing field, authored by India's Minister of state for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor and former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman and diplomat Shaharyar Khan.
"Indian democracy provides for both kinds (elected and nominated). Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, if he had chosen to contest this year, would have certainly won from anywhere in the country," Tharoor said.
"It is not a sign of mounting tension....it is a sign that your government is determined to protect the borders of India and takes its responsibilities seriously," Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor said in Thiruvananthpuram while reacting to media reports on the matter.
On his maiden visit to the city, minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor conceded that the short-coming in the current visa regulations had led to the inflow of blue-collared workers on business visas, especially from China.
Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor on Thursday defended Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on the joint statement issued after his meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Egypt.However, his statement had few takers, and most experts feel that the reference to Baluchistan in the joint statement would prove to be a costly blunder.The Bharatiya Janata Party has also criticised Dr Singh.
India on Wednesday said Pakistan has not responded to its consistent demand for handing over underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and others fugitives."We have consistently asked Pakistan to hand over Ibrahim and others to us. The demand has been made in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007.... But, unfortunately there has been no response from Pakistan so far," Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur said in the Lok Sabha.
Both India and Pakistan have announced that stretches would be developed in their respective areas.
Minister of State for External Affairs General (Retired) VK Singh on Tuesday wrote to Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs M Venkaiah Naidu seeking the renaming of New Delhi's Akbar Road as Maharana Pratap Road.
"Any country shouldn't be giving military aid to Pakistan until it works effectively in a demonstrative manner to dismantle the terror infrastructure," Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma told media-persons in New Delhi.
Having drawn flak for staying in a five-star hotel for the last three months, Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor described the controversy as "silly seasoned" that prompted invitation by many of his friends to stay with them.
Jaitley had on Monday had virtually ruled out annual revision of pension as demanded by agitating ex-servicemen under OROP.
Swaraj on Sunday briefed family members of the abducted men, who are mostly from Punjab, about information gathered by the Minister of State for External Affairs, V K Singh, who was sent to the Gulf nation after its prime minister announced the liberation of Mosul from the dreaded terror group Islamic State.
Union Minister of State for External Affairs Sashi Tharoor on Sunday said that it was not proper to ban the book authored by Jaswant Singh for his references on Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Talking to reporters, Tharoor said that in a democratic country like India, people have the right and freedom to speak and write. "If a person is not interested in reading the book, let him not read it," he said.
India has a 'fundamentally healthy' relationship with China that goes beyond the boundary issue, Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor stated on Tuesday."The relationship should not be seen only in the context of the problems, it should also be seen in the context of the opportunity," he said when asked about the India-China border talks last week. Tharoor said, "We are very pleased to say that, by and large, the relationship remains healthy."
On the eve of boundary talks, Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor on Thursday said China has no "locus standi" on a key irrigation project in Arunachal Pradesh which it is opposing as the state is integral part of India.
Ahead of Foreign Minister S M Krishna's maiden visit to Australia, India has said it was still concerned over the safety of its students studying in the country, though New Delhi did not want the issue to 'infect' bilateral relations. Hoping that the attacks on Indian students will not affect the Indo-Australian relationship, Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor said that the matter will only die down when the attacks stop or become rare.
Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor on Monday said the Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama was visiting Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh on his own and that India had not suggested him to do so.
The Modi government, ahead of its third anniversary in power, has asked all ministers to submit their five major achievements that have benefitted people, including key reforms and comparative data reflecting the progress made since the Bharatiya Janata Party took office.
India is hopeful of getting the non-permanent Asian seat in the United Nations Security Council, said Minister of state for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor on Friday.
In an effort to check forgeries and misuse of passports, the government is rolling out e-passports that will carry biometric information in a chip.
Tamil Nadu, which boasted of as many as nine ministers in the UPA-II government in 2009, did not get any representation in Modi 2.0 government.
India is not intimidated by China and the border dispute between the two countries could be settled by talks, Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur has said, noting that the media was overplaying the recent tensions between the neighbours."We are not intimidated by China. I think we are very confident of our own strength but certainly we are very confident that this issue can be settled by talks," said Kaur. "There has been a lot of media hype," she added.
India on Monday condemned the deadly terror attack on a police training centre in Lahore and asked Pakistan to continue dismantling the terror infrastructure on its soil.
Three years back they were rivals for the same job. Today, they were shaking hands in a meeting which, at least on surface, looked quite warm. United Nations Secretary-General Ban ki Moon shook hands with Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor in UN headquarters in New York on Wednesday.
"The image of the US is in the finest shape it's been in a very long time, and that's because the rest of the world believes in the kind of leadership President Obama is bringing to his task," the former UN Under Secretary General said at the Colbert Report news show. "He has given us hope," Tharoor said.
Union Minister of State for External Affairs General (retd) V K Singh opposed deployment of the Army in Maoist-affected areas on Tuesday, saying that the use of armed forces against "our own citizens" would "tarnish" its image.
President Pratibha Patil allocated the additional charge to Sharma on the advice of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a Rashtrapati Bhavan statement said late Saturday night.
If the absconding jeweller is traced in Britain, the extradition request to the UK government could follow a similar course as the case of embattled liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya
Modi and Ghani walked through the renovated heritage corridor before reaching Harmandir Sahib, popularly known as Golden Temple, where large number of people, waiting for hours, welcomed them.
Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor feels it "raises a larger question, as to whether Muslims, who are such a significant portion of our population are suffering particularly from the procedures that are applied to them when they travel to the US."
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances