'Glad India taking initiative for peace': Tharoor lauds PM Modi's outreach to Iran president, holding talks

NEW DELHI: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Friday lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi and external affairs minister S Jaishankar for holding conversation with Iran. He also called for a 'collective push' to end the Middle East conflict. Speaking to reporters outside Parliament, Tharoor welcomed India's initiative and expressed hope for the nation to be a 'constructive voice for peace'. Talking about the safety of millions of Indians stranded in the Gulf countries, he added: "This has hurt us badly and will hurt other countries' gas supply and energy security. The safety of nine million Indians in the Gulf countries and our relationships are also at stake. It is in the interest of the world to collectively push to end this, and we should be a leading voice in the matter." Earlier, on Thursday, PM Modi held a telephone conversation with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to discuss the deteriorating security situation in West Asia amid the ongoing war led by the US-Israel against Iran. Tharoor also slammed the US and Israel for initiating the strikes and blamed Iran for attacking its neighboring countries. "On principle, there is wrong on both sides. It was wrong of the US and Israel to attack. Any argument of provocation or preemptive self-defence is not justified at a time when negotiations were going on, and Iran was apparently granting everything demanded. Equally, on the other side, Iran is to blame for attacking countries not a party to the war and hurting innocent civilians. This is pointing towards the pointlessness of wars and conflicts. As the land of Mahatma Gandhi and Buddha, we know peace and ahimsa have been major traditions of India, and that is what we should stand for," he said.