Congress MP Shashi Tharoor firmly dismissed the notion of mediation between India and Pakistan, especially in light of recent escalations and U.S. President Donald Trump's claims of having "helped settle" tensions. Speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, Tharoor emphasised that mediation implies equivalence between two fundamentally unequal entities—India, a democratic state fighting terrorism, and Pakistan, a country accused of harbouring terrorists.
“There is no equivalence between terrorists and their victims,” Tharoor stated. “There is no equivalence between a country that provides safe haven to terrorism and a flourishing multi-party democracy that's trying to get on with its business.”
Tharoor portrayed India as a “status quo power” seeking peaceful coexistence while labelling Pakistan a “revisionist power” aiming to disrupt longstanding geopolitical arrangements. According to him, brokering peace between such unequal actors is inherently flawed and unacceptable.
Tharoor's remarks come in the wake of the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, which killed 26 civilians. In retaliation, India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. A ceasefire was reached on May 10, following direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of both countries—without third-party mediation.
Addressing Trump's claims, Tharoor acknowledged that the U.S. expressed concern and remained informed but stressed that de-escalation resulted from direct military-to-military communication. “Mediation is not a term we are particularly willing to entertain,” he said.