Shashi Tharoor (file photo)
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor hailed external affairs minister S Jaishankar and his ministry on Tuesday for establishing the Nalanda University campus in Bihar. He admired the university while attending a literature festival at the university, highlighting it as one of the MEA’s significant but underappreciated achievements.”…I was hugely impressed by the Nalanda University campus while attending the @nalandalitlive. My warm congratulations to @DrSJaishankar and @IndianDiplomacy for this wonderful achievement, which deserves a higher rating among the many unsung contributions of MEA to our nation,” Tharoor said on X. During his Bihar visit, Tharoor clarified his purpose was cultural, not political. He urged others to visit local attractions like the Bihar Museum and Bapu Tower.
Notably, Tharoor has previously made statements supporting the Modi government, often differing from his party’s stance. He recently pointed out India’s absence from the world’s top universities, saying “India no longer hosts any of the world’s leading universities…. While a few universities have now entered the top 200, none figure among the top 10 or even the top 50 worldwide.”The original Nalanda Mahavihara, dating from the third century BCE to the 13th century CE, was awarded UNESCO World Heritage status in 2016. Tharoor celebrated its rebirth after about 800 years since its destruction by Bakhtyar Khilji around 1200 AD.He emphasized that ancient Nalanda wasn’t just successful due to lack of competition but because it was truly “an extraordinary institution.”
