Dr. Tharoor proud to be in Congress 

06.04.10 Mangalore : During an interactive programme organized at Hotel Goldfinch in Mangalore on April 5, Monday, Dr. Shashi Tharoor, the union minister of state for external affairs, said that he desires to serve the country and work for its development. An HRD management college in collaboration with other social groups had organized this interactive programme.  

Saying that he had served at the international as well as the national levels, he claimed that he wishes to continue working for the wellbeing of India. Expressing his preferences, he said that he supports a mixture of pluralism with secularism. In response to a query, he said that the Indian media and the politicians wrongly use the term “secularism.”  

When asked whether politicians are ruthless, he said that generalizations should never be made. Pointing out that there are good as well as bad people everywhere, he said that this includes politics too. Claiming that the Congress was the only party that took an active part in the country’s freedom movement, he said that he is happy to be part of the Congress.  

Stressing the need to strengthen embassies because they foster better relations with foreign countries and their various ministries, he suggested that this can be done by provision of adequate staff and additional funds.  

Speaking about issues related to Pakistan, he said that the ongoing processes of peace with Pakistan are devoid of any problems. Regarding China, he said that India’s business relationship with China is quite healthy considering the fact that Indian IT giants Infosys and Wipro are all set to get established in China and Chinese firms are ready to establish business centres in Hyderabad and Chennai.  

In response to a query regarding foreign universities in India, Dr. Tharoor said that this will help India improve the quality of its educational system, while providing Indian students better educational facilities. He admitted that he had supported the idea of establishing foreign universities in India when the subject was hardly spoken about.  

Speaking about his political career, Dr. Tharoor said that he has absolutely no regrets being in politics. He spoke about how he got in touch with top politicians when he returned to India. He revealed that he faced a lot of public criticism during the first year and added that there are several negative and positive aspects of being in politics. Dr. Tharoor also expressed his desire to serve his constituency Thiruvananthapuram from where he was elected. 

Stating that a number of politicians all over the world tweet frequently, Dr. Tharoor said that he tweets because Twitter is a prominent social networking site. He cited the examples of Barack Obama, Hilary Clinton, and many other prominent people who tweet regularly. He also said that Hamid Kalifa, the president of Bagdad, clicked a photograph of them to upload on Twitter, when he had visited Bagdad.

Dr. Shashi Tharoor, the union minister of state for external affairs Speaking in Canara chambers Press  Conference