New Delhi, June 19: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for the safety of seafarers and for maintaining freedom of navigation and unimpeded commerce through international waterways drew praise from Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who said Modi conveyed the message effectively at the G7 summit in Evian, France. Tharoor made the remarks to IANS in an exclusive interview on Friday, June 19.
“I think that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was particularly able to convey a message that we would all agree with, namely that commercial shipping should not be targeted in a war. These are civilian sailors; as you know, pretty much every ship, whatever country’s flag is flying, has an Indian crew on board,” Tharoor said, underlining the scale of India’s seafarer presence in global maritime trade.
Tharoor criticised the use of force against civilian shipping, saying that while the United States may argue it cannot know every ship’s crew and may strike if a vessel violates a blockade, the facts remain that these are civilian ships and crews. “They should have found a non-lethal way of stopping the ship, such as by intercepting it, boarding it, or disabling it,” he added.
Calling Modi’s intervention a “fair message,” Tharoor warned that wartime conditions require extra caution and that ship owners can share culpability if they put crews at risk under threatening circumstances. He also linked the maritime safety discussion to broader diplomacy, commenting on the US‑Iran agreement and the conditions for lasting peace.
“In all peace deals, my friend, 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, arguing that durable agreements let both sides give something back to their people.
He noted the Memorandum of Understanding between the US and Iran, saying Americans can point to Iran’s pledge to dilute enriched uranium under IAEA supervision, while Iran can point to expected sanctions relief and the unfreezing of long-held assets.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, speaking to reporters in Paris on Thursday, June 18, confirmed Modi raised the issue at G7 outreach and in bilateral meetings, stressing that “hundreds of thousands of Indian seafarers essentially provide a global public good” and that their safety should be a common concern of the international community. IANS
Original Source: https://theshillongtimes.com/2026/06/19/west-asia-crisis-tharoor-says-pm-modi-was-able-to-convey-message-that-all-will-agree-with/
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Publish Date: 2026-06-19 19:57:00
