Shashi Tharoor Responds to Trump: ‘Mediation Between Unequals Is Impossible’

Congress Parliamentarian Shashi Tharoor recently underlined that the concept of mediating between two unequal sides is not feasible, especially with reference to India-Pakistan tensions.

Delivering a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, Tharoor countered assertions repeatedly made by U.S. President Donald Trump, who has claimed that he was instrumental in brokering peace between the two countries.

".Mediation is not something that we are very keen on considering. I'll explain why not. The truth is that this suggests, even if you use things like broker or whatever, you're suggesting an equivalence which just does not exist," Tharoor explained, highlighting the absence of parity between terrorists and their victims.

He continued, "There is no parallel between a state that offers sanctuary to terrorism, and a state that's an emerging multi-party democracy that's simply trying to get on with its business."

Tharoor also added the prime distinction between a status quo power desiring peace and a revisionist power seeking to upset established geopolitical order. There isn't an equivalence between one that is a status quo power that simply desires to be left alone by its neighbors, where its neighbors don't agree with us, and one that is a revisionist power wishing to overturn the geopolitical arrangements which have been in place for the last three-quarters of a century.". There is no degree of equality that can be found in such cases, and under these conditions, to imply that you can mediate between two unequals isn't possible."

Since May 10, President Trump has consistently asserted through social media and public remarks that the United States facilitated a "full and immediate" ceasefire between India and Pakistan after an overnight round of negotiations. He has further declared that he threatened the two nuclear-armed neighbors that trade agreements with the U.S. would be on the backburner if they kept waging war.

Asked about the role of America in the crisis, Tharoor provided a guarded view, indicating that the U.S. probably kept itself apprised from high-level contacts with both India and Pakistan. "My government certainly did receive a series of calls at high levels from the U.S. government, and we valued their interest and concern," he stated.

Tharoor hypothesized the U.S. likely made parallel high-level approaches to Pakistan, because "that's the side that had to be persuaded to halt this process, that quite possibly is where their messages truly had the most influence." Yet, he indicated this was merely his hypothesis and he did not know the nature of those communications.

President Trump reaffirmed his assertions on the issue during a gathering with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the White House, citing pride over halting the war. I talked to some very smart folks on both sides, very fine people on both sides," Trump stated, while stating that Washington threatened to deny trade agreements if the fighting and nuclear threats kept going, adding, "Because you know that nuclear dust blows across oceans very quickly, it affects us.

He continued, "You know what, I got that war stopped.Now, am I going to get credit? I'm not going to get credit for anything. They don't give me credit for anything. But nobody else could have done it. I stopped it. I was very proud of that."

The truce came after fierce battles precipitated following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir, which left 26 civilians dead. India retaliated with Operation Sindoor, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir from May 7. The two nations agreed on May 10 to suspend hostilities following a few days of drone and missile exchanges.

India has insisted that the ceasefire agreement was negotiated through direct dialogue between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two countries.