On social media being abuzz about whether Tharoor would continue to be with Congress or join the BJP, he said: I’m an elected member of parliament. I have four years left of my term. I don’t know why there is any question to be asked.In response to a question on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi and saying he had surrendered after receiving a phone call from US President Donald Trump, Tharoor said: In a democracy, and this is normal, parties will contend, express criticism, and make demands.”We are not here on a party political mission. We are here as representatives of a united India” he said, pointing out the delegation included five political parties from three religions and seven states.Apart from Tharoor, the delegation comprised MPs Sarfaraz Ahmad, Ganti Harish Madhur Balayogi, Shashank Mani Tripathi, Bhubaneswar Kalita, Milind Deora, Tejasvi Surya, and India’s former ambassador to the US Taranjit Sandhu, who arrived from India in New York on May 24 and travelled to Guyana, Panama, Colombia and Brazil before arriving in Washington, the last leg of the tour.It’s an incredible cross-section reflective of India’s diversity. And yet we’ve come up with a united message.So there is unity in diversity as well, in this group, and to my mind, our focus has to be on that unified message, because when it comes to the national interest, national security, honestly, I think by and large, the nation is united.He referred to an old interview saying that our political differences stop at the edge of the border.Once you cross the border, you are Indian, and your other allegiances come second.
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