'1971 and 2025 are different': Shashi Tharoor amid Congress' campaign to highlight Indira Gandhi's leadership

During an interaction with news agency ANI, Tharoor emphasised that the ‘circumstances in 1971 and 2025 are not the same’.

He said that the people of India deserve peace.

"We have suffered a lot, ask the people of Poonch, how many have died. I am not saying we should stop wars. When there are reasons to continue them, we should continue. But this was not a war we intended to continue. We just wanted to teach terrorists a lesson. That lesson has been taught," Mr Tharoor said.

He exuded confidence that the government would continue to track the terrorists involved in the Pahalgam attack that claimed 26 innocent lives and bring them to justice.

"That is indispensable. It may not happen overnight, it may take months, years, but we will have to do it. No one should be allowed to get away with killing innocent Indian civilians. But that doesn't mean we should put the entire nation at risk in a prolonged war," he said.

"As far as this particular conflict with Pakistan was concerned, there was no reason to risk more lives, limbs and fortunes. We need to focus on the prosperity and well-being of Indian people, on growth, development and progress. I think the peace is the right way to go at this stage," Tharoor said.

As an Indian, Tharoor said the 1971 victory makes him proud and it was a "great achievement".

"Indira Gandhiji rewrote the map of the subcontinent. But the circumstances were different. Today's Pakistan is a different situation. Their equipment, military equipment, the damage they can do, everything is different," he said.

He underscored the different causes the Bangladesh liberation war and Operation Sindoor looked to achieve.

In 1971, India was fighting a moral cause to bring people to freedom, while in 2025 India aimed to teach terrorists harboured by Pakistan a lesson and bust the terror hubs there, he said.

"This is a different story. We would have ended up with a much longer, protracted conflict with a lot of loss of lives on both sides. Is this the biggest priority for India today? No, it's not. We wanted to teach those who had sent these terrorists across that there is a price to pay," he said.

"India did not, I believe, at any stage see the actions of May 7 as the beginning of a long, protracted conflict. If Pakistan did not escalate, we would not have escalated. Pakistan did, we also did.

"It was getting to a point where if it continued like, we would needlessly have been caught in a long, drawn-out war without a clear objective at the end of it. Liberating Bangladesh is a clear objective. Just keeping on firing shells at Pakistan is not a clear objective. You see the difference," he said.

Soon after the ceasefire announcement, Congress leaders — including the party’s official social media account — posted images of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who had led India to victory in the 1971 war.

The move was widely interpreted as a veiled critique of Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the ceasefire decision.

Responding to the posts, BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia questioned why Congress did not recall former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and challenged the party to explain what actions the UPA government had taken in response to the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.

Meanwhile, Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh called for an all-party meeting chaired by the Prime Minister to deliberate on the ceasefire agreement.

He also raised concerns over US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's reference to a "neutral site," asking whether the Indian government had allowed room for third-party mediation in the Kashmir issue.

"Finally, the Indian National Congress believes it is but natural for the country to recall Indira Gandhi for her extraordinarily courageous and resolute leadership in 1971," he said.