New Delhi [India], March 19 (ANI): BJP Kerala Unit President, K Surendran, on Wednesday, appreciated Congress leader Shashi Tharoor for his statement agreeing with India's Russia-Ukraine diplomatic stance and conceding that it gave the country a unique position to be friendly with both Russia and Ukraine, two nations at war since 2022.

The Kerala BJP chief praised Tharoor and said his 'honesty' in praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi's diplomacy is 'commendable' and a 'refreshing take.'

'Dear Shashi Tharoor ji, I've always admired your candour. Your honesty in saying, 'I opposed it initially' and now praising Modiplomacy's success in Russia-Ukraine is commendable. Unlike your INC peers, you see India's global rise under PM Narendra Modi is truly a refreshing take!' posted Surendran on X.

Tharoor had said that he seems to be 'wiping egg of his face,' conceding that despite himself calling for the condemnation of Russia's war with Ukaraine, three years later India is in a unique position to be friendly with both countries and be welcomed by both leaders.

'I am still wiping the egg off my face because I was one person in the parliamentary debate who actually criticised the Indian position at the time back in February 2022,' Tharoor said.

Explaining his reasoning for condemning the war, Tharoor continued, 'On the well-worn grounds that Espen (Norway's Foreign Minister) will understand because he and I talked about all this in my UN days, that there was a violation of the UN Charter, the sovereignty of a member state, namely Ukraine, and we had always stood for the that there had been a violation of the principle of the inviolability of borders of a sovereign state, inadmissibility of the use of force to settle international disputes and all of those principles had been violated by one party, and we should have condemned it.'

'Well, 3 years later, it does look like I am the one with egg on my face because clearly the policy has meant that India actually has a Prime Minister who can hug both the president of Ukraine and the president of Moscow two weeks apart and be accepted in both places and therefore India is in a position where it can make a difference to a lasting peace if it was so required in ways that very few countries would be able to,' Tharoor added.

When questioned on Wednesday, the Congress MP reaffirmed his stand on India's diplomatic stance and said that his earlier comments speak for themselves and that there was nothing to add.

'The comments speak for themselves. Nothing to add,' Tharoor told ANI.

Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022; since then, the United States President has been having 'productive conversations' with Russian President Vladimir Putin, talking about a ceasefire and ending the 'horrible war,' as said by President Trump on Truth Social. (ANI)