Shashi Tharoor Urges S Jaishankar To `Cool A Little Bit` After His `West Has A Bad Habit` Remark

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday had said that the West has had a `bad habit` of commenting on others and that it thinks it has a `God-given right` to speak about the internal matters of other countries.

New Delhi: A day after S Jaishankar said that the West has had a "bad habit" of commenting on others, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Monday (April 3, 2023) urged the External Affairs Minister to "cool a little bit'. He also said that "if we react to every comment, we are doing ourselves a disservice". 

"We need not be so thin-skinned, I think it's very important that as govt we take something in stride. If we react to every comment, we are doing ourselves a disservice. I will strongly urge EAM Jaishankar to cool a little bit," Tharoor told the news agency ANI. 

His reaction came after Jaishankar on Sunday said that the West has had a "bad habit" for a long time, of commenting on others, and it thinks it has a "God-given right" to speak about the internal matters of other countries.

While speaking on Germany and the United States' remarks on the disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as a Member of Parliament, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP said, "There are two reasons. It is because the West has had a bad habit for a long time of commenting on others. They somehow think it is some kind of God-given right. They will have to learn only by experience that if you keep doing this, other people will also start commenting and they will not like it when it happens. I see that happening."

"The second part of the truth -- in our arguments, you are inviting the people to comment on you. Then more and more people are tempted to comment. We also need to stop giving generous invitations to the world saying there are problems in India; America and Europe, why are you standing by and doing nothing?," he added during the 'Meet and Greet' interaction organised by Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya and Bengaluru Central MP P C Mohan with over 500 young voters, joggers and visitors at Cubbon Park in the Karnataka capital.

"So if somebody from here goes and says 'why are you standing by and saying nothing', then obviously they are going to comment. Part of the problem is them, part of the problem is us. And I think both need fixing," he said.