I am the one with egg on my face: Shashi Tharoor on his 2022 stand on Russia-Ukraine war | Raisina Dialogue

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, in the country’s parliament, was one of the most vocal opponents of the stance India had taken on the Russia-Ukraine war back in 2022 when the conflict began.

Now, over three years down the line, he admitted at the Raisina Dialogue forum that it looks like he has egg on his face from taking that position.

In 2022, Tharoor had accused the government of going silent on the Russia-Ukraine war.

“Russia is a friend and there could be some legitimate security concerns but for India to go suddenly silent on it will be seen as a disappointment by Ukraine and its friends. It’s a pity that India has gone silent,” he had said.

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“Egg on my face”

At Raisina Dialogue 2025, Tharoor was asked whether, given the state of play right now with Russia-Ukraine war and US President Donald Trump’s position, he was glad that India took the position it did?

Tharoor responde, “I’m still wiping the egg off my face because I was the one person in the parliamentary debate who actually criticised the Indian position back in February 2022 on the grounds that there was a violation of the UN Charter– that there had been a violation for the principle of the inviolability of borders, of the sovereignty of a member state, namely Ukraine, and that we had always stood for the inadmissibility of the use of force to settle International disputes and all of those principles. I said these have been violated by one party and we should have condemned it.”

Tharoor went on to admit, “Three years later, it does look like I’m the one that got egg on my face because clearly, the policy has meant that India has actually a prime minister who can hug both the president of Ukraine and the president of Russia two weeks apart.”

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He highlighted that due to that policy, India is in a position where it can make a difference to a lasting peace.

“Distance helps. The fact that we’re not in Europe and we’re not directly one way or the other threatened, and that we don’t benefit from any change in territorial borders, for example, that helps.”

Will India send peacekeepers to Ukraine?

Tharoor was also asked whether it was possible that India would send peacekeepers to conflict-hit zones, including Ukraine.

He mentioned that that decision would be dependent on a variety of factors.

“The fact that the two parties seem to be ready to agree to peace, the fact that there would presumably be some very serious International backing for an international peacekeeping venture– All of those things have to be borne in mind. For an Indian government person making such a decision, those considerations would really have to be uppermost before they say yes or no.”

However, he did exude optimism regarding the matter. “I can see it entirely possible that in these circumstances that India would say yes.”

He went on to mention that India has got a quarter of a million peacekeepers around the world in its history. New Delhi has participated in some 49 peacekeeping missions, he said. “So this is a country with an extensive record of having gone out to places far removed from India’s direct interest in order to serve the cause of peace. So why not?”