"Will watch India-Pakistan match instead of Narendra Modi's swearing-in-ceremony": Shashi Tharoor

By Ashoke Raj
New Delhi [India], June 8 : After BJP failed to garner clear cut majority in the just concluded Lok Sabha polls, Congress senior leader Shashi Tharoor on Saturday took a jibe at the swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi and said he will watch the India-Pakistan match instead of attending the ceremony.
"I have not been invited to the swearing-in, so I'll be watching the (India vs Pakistan) match," Tharoor told ANI after a Congress parliamentary party meeting here on Saturday. India and Pakistan are set to play a World Cup T-20 match in the United States on June 9 at around 8 PM IST.
Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi is set to take the oath on June 9 at 7:15 PM.
As Narendra Modi will be sworn in as the Prime Minister for the third consecutive time, several leaders and State heads of neighbourhood region and Indian Ocean region have been invited for Modi's swearing-in ceremony as distinguished guests, a testament to India's 'Neighbourhood First' policy.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in an official statement on Saturday said, "President of Sri Lanka, Ranil Wickremesinghe; President of Maldives, Mohamed Muizzu; Vice-President of Seychelles, Ahmed Afif; Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina; Prime Minister of Mauritius, Pravind Kumar Jugnauth; Prime Minister of Nepal, Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda'; and Prime Minister of Bhutan, Tshering Tobgay, have accepted the invitation to attend."
The Congress leader said, "The event marks a good tradition of inviting the leaders of the neighbouring countries."
Tharoor also noted the significance of inviting the Maldives to the swearing-in, despite recent controversies. He expressed confidence in the meeting between the Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu and Prime Minister Modi after the ceremony.
For the oath-taking ceremony, India has invited its neighbouring countries, except Pakistan.
"India has invited its neighboring countries except Pakistan, which is sending a signal," Tharoor commented.
"That's a good tradition that was started in Prime Minister Modi's swearing-in ceremony. But this time there's one less. He has not invited Pakistan. So again, that also sends a signal," he said.
Adding further he said, "It's good that at least the Maldives is at least making the effort to come here and speak. They have not been particularly friendly or receptive to our interests for some time now. This particular president is coming here for the first time. I am assuming that the visit will be taken advantage of for some meetings on the side as well."
On being asked about how you see the country's foreign policy under PM Modi's era, Tharoor remarked, "It's long and complicated with a mixed record of some positive and negative experiences, which need to be discussed in Parliament," he told ANI.
The BJP got 240 seats and NDA has secured 292 seats out of 543 Lok Sabha seats.
The INDIA bloc has bagged 233 seats. Others have won 18 seats in the lower house of Parliament. The Congress secured 99 seats. Samajwadi Party got 37 seats while Trinamool Congress 29. DMK managed to win 22 seats.
The Congress party has called a parliamentary meeting with all the newly elected MPs from the country.
During this meeting, they discussed appointing Sonia Gandhi as the chairperson Parliamentary Party (CPP), a resolution that was passed today in the central hall of Parliament.