Is it so difficult to be patriotic?: Salman Khurshid's cryptic post on diplomatic mission abroad
New Delhi, Jun 2 (PTI): Congress leader Salman Khurshid, who is a part of India's diplomatic mission abroad, on Monday said it is "distressing" that people back home are calculating political allegiances and asked if it is "so difficult to be patriotic".
Khurshid, a former external affairs minister, is part of a delegation led by JD(U) MP Sanjay Kumar Jha which is currently in Malaysia after visiting Indonesia, South Korea, Japan and Singapore to convey India's message against terrorism in the wake of April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam and Operation Sindoor launched on May 7.
Taking to X and without naming anyone, the senior Congress leader said, "When on mission against terrorism, to carry India's message to the world, it's distressing that people at home are calculating political allegiances. Is it so difficult to be patriotic?"
Khurshid's cryptic post comes after Congress MP Shashi Tharoor faced attacks from party leaders including Udit Raj who called him a "super spokesperson of BJP" for remarks which were perceived to favour the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre. Tharoor is leading one of the seven delegations and is currently in Brazil.
Khurshid's remarks come a day after he said during an interaction with think tanks in Indonesia that Kashmir had "major problems" for a long time and the abrogation of Article 370 finally put an end to it. The remarks were welcomed by leaders from the ruling BJP and stirred controversy.
BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla, referring to Khurshid's remarks, slammed the Congress and other opposition parties, accusing them of overlooking national interest.
"After Shashi Tharoor, and Manish Tewari, yet another Congress leader has given a reality check and shown the mirror to Congress and INDI-alliance," Poonawalla said.
"Salman Khurshid has said when the all party delegation is on a mission to expose Pakistan putting India first, but some people are calculating the political allegiances. Is it so difficult to be patriotic? This is the resounding slap on those people's faces who are constantly doubting India's military might and India's diplomatic strike," he said.
He accused the Congress of keeping the interests of the "parivar", an apparent reference to the Gandhi family, above national interest.
"Congress, for the sake of petty political gains, puts party interest, parivaar interest above national interest. Hope they will realise that Salman Khurshid is not a super pravakta (spokesperson) of any party, he is putting nation first. But when will the Congress party put the nation first?" he said.
In an apparent reference to Lok Sabha leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi, he said, "LoP is busy in proving how Pakistan is powerful and won and how India lost".
Poonawalla also referred to recent remarks by opposition leaders including Congress' Jairam Ramesh and Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Sanjay Raut.
"We have seen how Jairam Ramesh said the terrorists are like MPs and MPs are like terrorists... We have seen how Operation Sindoor was called a failure by Sanjay Raut, we have seen how constantly India's Sena is being undermined by the likes of Rahul Gandhi," he said.
Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, while attacking the government with his claim that a special session of Parliament was being considered for June 25-26 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Emergency reportedly remarked "our MPs are roaming and terrorists are also roaming".
In-charge of BJP's National Information and Technology Department Amit Malviya also attacked the Congress. Tagging Khurshid's post on X, he said, "The sentiment expressed here is both tragic and deeply ironic. It reflects the cost of a warped idea of secularism that the Congress party has long championed, one that confuses the urgent need to confront terror with a compulsive instinct to appease.
"In doing so, they have not only diluted the moral clarity required to fight extremism, but have also compromised national security in the name of vote-bank politics."
India has sent seven multi-party delegations to key partner countries, including members of the UN Security Council, to convey India's message of zero tolerance against terrorism.
The delegations are being led by Baijayant Panda, Ravi Shankar Prasad (both BJP), Sanjay Kumar Jha (JDU), Shrikant Shinde (Shiv Sena), Shashi Tharoor (Congress), Kanimozhi (DMK) and Supriya Sule (NCP-SP), and are visiting 32 countries and the EU headquarters at Brussels in Belgium.
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
