New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor dismissed the comparisons between 1971 war and Operation Sindoor as “India today misses Indira Gandhi” began trending on X amid de-escalation of hostilities with Pakistan.
“The circumstances in 1971 and 2025 are not the same. 1971 was great achievement in our history. I am proud of it as an India. Indira Gandhi ji rewote the map of the sub-continent. But the circumstances were different then. Today’s Pakistan is a different situation, their military equipment and they damage they could do, everything is different.” he told ANI.
Tharoor further noted the difference between the motives. “Bangladesh was fighting a moral cause to actually bring people to freedom and liberation. That was a completely different story. This is a different story. We would have ended up with much longer, protracted conflicts with a lot of loss of lives on both sides. Is this the biggest priority for India today? No, it is not. This was not a war that we intended to continue. We just wanted to teach terrorists a lesson, and that lesson has been taught. I’m sure the government will continue trying to identify and track the specific individuals who did the horrors of Pahalgam… We don’t need to tie the whole country down in a war,” he added.
Gigantic posters with slogans ‘Indira hona asaan nahi’, and ‘India misses Indira’ were also seen outside the Congress party headquarters in Delhi this morning.
On Saturday, Congress recalled Indira Gandhi’s leadership during 1971 India-Pakistan war soon after Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri announced that India and Pakistan had agreed to stop firing with effect from 5 pm on Saturday.
This followed President Donald Trump post on X, hailing a successful US-mediated ceasefire between India and Pakistan
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh, put up Indira Gandhi’s letter to president Nixon of December 12, 1971, telling then US president Richard Nixon that the time had passed when any nation sitting thousands of miles away could give orders to Indians on the basis of colour superiority to do as they wished.
“Four days later Pakistan surrendered. She ensured that there was no ‘neutral site’ which has now been agreed to,” he wrote.
This is Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s historic letter to President Nixon of Dec 12, 1971. Four days later Pakistan surrendered.
She ensured that there was no “neutral site” which has now been agreed to. pic.twitter.com/Fvvcmn6VkZ
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) May 10, 2025
Several other Congress leaders, including the party’s official handle, also shared pictures of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, recalling the win in the 1971 war. The posts were seen as a swipe at Prime Minister Modi over the ceasefire.
