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Summary
Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor has criticized the foreign policy approach of Pandit Jawahrlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi.Speaking at a talk by British Labour MP Bhikhu Parekh in New Delhi, Tharoor agreed with the speaker's critical assessment of the policies as more like moralistic running commentary.Tharoor said: Lord Parekh and I have fought alike on issues of India's identity and domestic arrangements. So we do, I am afraid, come from a similar outlook of the world. I think his (is a) very clear summary of the way in which Indian foreign policy drew from our founding fathers' sense of our civilisational heritage. The extraordinary contribution of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru to the articulation of that civilisational heritage and the manner in which both enhanced India's standing in the world, gave us the negative reputation for conducting foreign policy as a sort of moralistic running commentary on other people's behaviour.Sources claim that the Congress has taken cognizance of Tharoor's comments and may take action against the Minister of State on Monday. On condition of anonymity, a senior Congress leader said that the party has taken note of his comments made over a period of time.Last month, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna had clearly said that policy changes should not be discussed in public, specifically reacting to his deputy's tweets on the subject.
