The damage to the warring parties, the neighborhood and the wider region, including India, as a result of the West Asian conflict has “beyond all acceptable limits” and must be stopped, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has said.
Interacting with reporters on the sidelines of an event in New Delhi on Friday (March 20, 2026), Mr Tharoor said he was someone who had always been “dovish” in this particular conflict and most conflicts.
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He was asked to comment on the hawkish remarks emanating from both sides regarding the conflict in West Asia, which began three weeks ago and has no end in sight.
“This is a serious issue. It is not a small thing, it affects the daily lives of Indians and other people around the world. I think we should be part of (the effort) and ideally we should lead the international effort to end this war. There are many countries that will join us. Nobody wants this war to continue,” he said.
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Mr Tharoor said the conflict “hurts many of us” who had nothing to do with it.
“And I think now is the time to get both sides to step down from their positions. They need our help, they need our help and the encouragement of other countries. I hope we will play our part,” said the former Union foreign minister.
He said there is a need to end this conflict.
“If you saw the call of the Omani foreign minister, a very, very important gesture. I think many, many countries are saying that we absolutely have to end this war. It’s causing too much damage and it’s not at all clear what it’s good for,” he emphasized.
He was also asked if any “doves” who want de-escalation are needed in this environment of “hawks”.
“I was obviously someone who was dovish in this particular conflict and in most conflicts. War is a useless activity. In fact, I spent many years in UN peacekeeping and I can tell you that soldiers are the last people who want to see wars. They know how much horror, how much suffering, how much real loss is involved. Nobody wants war to continue,” he argued.
When you talk to soldiers who have lived through combat and killing, they will share with you the agony it entails, the congressman said.
“I think it’s one thing to be forced to defend your country. It’s another thing to continue to prosecute a war where people are dying every day, innocents are dying, school children have been killed, various innocent people, frankly, are losing their lives, for what,” he asked.
“I think at this point the damage done everywhere, both to the fighters, to the neighborhood and to the wider region including India, has crossed all acceptable limits. It needs to be stopped,” Mr Tharoor said.
The conflict is affecting India, it is affecting many other countries in the region and beyond, because now that oil prices are going up and gas supplies are going down, you are looking at the problems that everybody is facing, he said.
He was also asked about Congress chief Shamy Mohamed’s post on X on Friday (March 20) about fewer tickets being given to women candidates.
“I’ve been very much in favor of more representation of women for some time,” he said.
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“And I’m sorry to say that, I agree that when women make up half the population, that they only get 9.8 percent of the seats, it’s not fair. But again, those who made those decisions, and I’m not one of them, I’m not part of the selection process for the candidates. But all I can say is that those who did, they had to take all the factors into account and in the end they used that as the main thing to win.” Tharoor said.
“But when women’s reservation comes, I think that will be the end of these debates and we will see a fair opportunity for more hard-working women leaders,” he added.
Published – 21 March 2026 09:14 IST
