Shashi Tharoor Defends India's Sovereign Right to Multi-Alignment: "Trump Must Respect Our Relations with Russia"

Putin visited India for two days and attended a state dinner at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

New Delhi:

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor emphasized on Friday that US President Donald Trump "must respect" India's sovereign right to maintain relationships with other nations, following Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to India amid US tariffs imposed on Indian goods over Russian oil purchases.

"I don't think our relationship should be dependent upon what any other country thinks about it. Every country maintains independent relationships. Trump doesn't care what we think of his relations with China, and he's been tweeting about G2. We have to respect his right to have the kind of relationship he wants, and similarly, he has to respect our right to have relations with countries that matter to us," Tharoor told NDTV's CEO and Editor-in-Chief Rahul Kanwal following the state dinner at Rashtrapati Bhavan honoring Putin.

Tharoor described Russia as a "crucial relationship" for India, noting that Putin's visit represented a "symbol of continuity."

"At the same time, it's an affirmation of our sovereign autonomy in a turbulent and fractured world," he added.

Tharoor also proudly recalled how a term he coined two decades ago regarding geopolitical alignments has become increasingly relevant.

"I've written about our sovereign autonomy extensively, and I am proud to have coined the term 'multi-alignment' 20 years ago. It's much more applicable today. We are living in a multi-aligned world where each country maintains different relationships with various nations. The metaphor of choice is the World Wide Web," he explained.

Tharoor continued, "We have a connection to Russia. We have a connection to America. We have a different connection with our challenges regarding China. But we're not going to suddenly say that because of one relationship, another won't work. For example, it's very important for India to develop good relations with Europe, which remains a significant pole for us in a multipolar world. The name of the game is multi-alignment – aligning according to your needs with whoever you need to work with."