New Delhi : Senior Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor on Saturday asserted that political parties must cooperate with each other in the interest of national security. Harmony and National Development’, Tharoor said that the nation must come first, and parties are merely vehicles to build a better country.
Which is your first loyalty? To my mind, the nation comes first. Parties are a means of making the nation better. So, to my mind, whichever party you belong to, the objective of the party is to create a better India in its own way. Now, parties have every right to disagree about the best way of doing that, he said.
The Congress MP also addressed the recent criticism he has faced for supporting the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government over its handling of Operation Sindoor and matters related to national defence.
Responding to a student’s question about his relationship with the Congress leadership, Tharoor said, “When people like me say that we respect our parties, we have certain values and convictions that keep us in our parties, but we need to cooperate with other parties in the interest of national security.
He added that politics, in any democracy, is inevitably about competition, but that should not come in the way of working together during critical times.”Inclusive development has been my theme throughout my 16 years in politics and I believe in inclusiveness and in development. I also believe in national security and national interest,” Tharoor said.
Tharoor later told reporters that “nation first” has always been his guiding philosophy. “I came back to India only to serve the nation in whatever way I can, through and outside politics,” he said, adding, “I have tried to do that.” The Congress leader also addressed speculation about internal party tensions following his appointment to lead an all-party delegation on Operation Sindoor.
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