Tharoor Says US-Iran Truce Must Avoid Humiliating Either Side

New Delhi — Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said the US-Iran peace agreement can endure only if both countries are able to present the outcome as a victory, warning that a settlement perceived as the subjugation of one side would be unlikely to last.

“You know, in all peace deals, everyone has to feel they have won, otherwise a peace will never last. You cannot have a peace deal that essentially involves the surrender of one side… going back to Versailles after the First World War, which led to the Second World War,” Tharoor said in an interview with IANS.

He said the United States could point to Iran’s commitment to stop enriching uranium and dilute its existing enriched uranium under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Iran, meanwhile, could highlight sanctions relief, the unfreezing of assets held in Western countries and assistance to rebuild infrastructure damaged during the war.

“So, the whole world can say that we have all gained and can now get back to peace,” Tharoor said, noting that the conflict and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz had contributed to higher oil prices, fuel shortages and disruptions in commodity supplies.

He cautioned that economic conditions would not return to normal immediately because the Strait of Hormuz remained mined and several oil and gas facilities damaged during the conflict would have to be repaired.

“So, I think we are all still going to have a rough time for a few more months. If this peace lasts, we should be able to get back in about a year or a year and a half’s time to where we were before the war,” he said.

Tharoor also questioned proposals to expand the Lok Sabha to as many as 850 members as part of the delimitation process.

“Can we really have a Parliament with a strength of 850? Is there any Parliament in the world with 850 people? No, it does not exist,” he said.

He argued that such a large chamber would make meaningful participation difficult, preventing many lawmakers from speaking during Zero Hour, raising constituency concerns or joining parliamentary debates.

“It’s already a challenge with 543; with 850, it will literally be impossible,” he said.

Tharoor suggested examining alternative models, including the US Senate system, where every state has two senators, and the European Union’s approach of establishing minimum and maximum representation levels for member states.

“These are the questions that need to be asked, discussed and worked out, instead of just randomly going in haste for a 50 per cent increase,” he said. “850 is a joke; it cannot be a serious Parliament.”

Commenting on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tenure, Tharoor said Modi had become the longest-serving continuously elected prime minister rather than the longest-serving prime minister in India’s history.

“I think we all recognise that he has a tremendous amount of dynamism and energy, that he has a vision. Whether you agree with that vision or not, he articulates a vision. He is a powerful orator, perhaps one of the best orators this country has seen in Hindi,” Tharoor said.

He praised Modi’s speaking ability and political presence but said the Opposition remained concerned about communal divisions and the weakening of democratic institutions.

“Personally, I think he has done a lot of things right, but this period has also witnessed a number of things that are not so good for India,” he said.

Addressing the split within the Trinamool Congress, Tharoor alleged that inducements, incentives or threats may have played a role, pointing to the decision by 20 breakaway lawmakers to align with the ruling National Democratic Alliance.

“So, suddenly, to find all this virtue suggests that our country’s politics has become a politics without principles. And that is rather sad,” he said.

Tharoor also called allegations of financial misappropriation involving offerings made at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya a serious betrayal of religious faith.

“When you discover that not just lakhs but crores may have been siphoned away, it is such a betrayal of trust and a violation of faith that I was shocked, and most devout Hindus would be truly feeling betrayed that such a thing would happen,” he said. (Source: IANS)