Jammu, Jun 22: Congress Member Parliament (MP) Shashi Tharoor and the chairperson of Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs on Monday asserted that the panel was in J&K to study three specific issues in its (external affairs’) domain and not to assess the situation in the Kashmir Valley.
The curt ‘clarification’ was in response to media queries about the political storm triggered by his (Tharoor’s) tweet imbuing positivity after he met the J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha in Srinagar on June 21 and discussed “situation in the state and the encouraging progress towards normalcy.”
“Had just called on the Governor. I have not had a chance to see other things or listen to other people’s voices. I just want to make it very clear – this is not a visit about checking conditions in the Kashmir Valley. The committee is here to study three issues- Indo-Pakistan, Sino-Indian relations and the functioning of passport offices and the Passport Seva Kendras. These are the only three issues we are studying,” Tharoor clarified as the media elicited his reaction about ongoing controversy and the External Affairs Committee’s assessment during its ongoing J&K visit.
“We are not here to look at domestic matters. It’s not our business. We’re the External Affairs Committee. That’s it and that’s all what I’ve to say,” the Congress MP stated.
On June 21, after his meeting with the LG Sinha in Srinagar, Tharoor had tweeted, “Had the honour of an excellent meeting with Lieutenant Governor Shri Manoj Sinha at Lok Bhawan today.
We discussed the situation in the state and the encouraging progress towards normalcy. When I arrived he was chatting to the President of the Kashmiri Writers’ Association and the Women’s Organisation – a positive outreach that I welcomed. Many challenges remain and much remains to be done, but I left the meeting feeling more positives than I have felt for a while.”
However, it (tweet) did not go well with many in Kashmir, even outside and of course and as usual – his own party- the Congress.
Besides others, it was Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) chief spokesperson Ravinder Sharma who reacted sharply as he tweeted, “People of Kashmir too were expecting you to meet them to have a better understanding of the ground realities. At least could’ve spared some time to meet own partymen fighting for statehood snatched from us 7 years ago.”
Tharoor is already in the eye of Congress’ storm over his praise of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s stance on Indian sailors’ death issue. The Kashmir tweet in fact added fuel to the fire.
On June 22, when the Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSC) on External Affairs, which is on 4-day visit to J&K and Ladakh from June 22 to 25, 2026, was on its mandated assessment job, Tharoor finally got the chance to clear the air.
Besides Tharoor, the committee also comprises Asaduddin Owaisi, Arun Govil, K Laxman, Arvind Ganpat Sawant, Vijay Baghel besides others.
About the day’s schedule, Tharoor himself detailed as he said, “The Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs visited the Regional Passport office in Jammu and the Passport Seva Kendra here. They seem to be functioning smoothly.”
“Had a detailed meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs in Jammu this morning, reviewing the work of the Regional Passport Office (RPO) and the Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs). We asked some tough and probing questions about passport issuance to their representatives and to those of the Police, CID and Postal Department. Some of the unconscionable delays in processing, police verification and issuance of passports were flagged and discussed. Improvements have been promised,” he tweeted after the review meeting.
Later speaking to media persons, he shared concerns about delays in the issuance of passports in Jammu and Kashmir.
“We had conversations with the Regional Passport Office, the MEA representative from Delhi here. We’ve also had conversations with the police and with the postal department. We are concerned about some of the delays that have been impeding passport issuance in this area, and we have been raising some very strong questions because we want to see improvements and speeding up of the passport delivery for applicants in Kashmir, Leh, Srinagar and Jammu. The MPs here have found it a very meaningful visit, and we’ve had some very strong and constructive discussions,” the Congress MP said.
Earlier, the panel chaired a review meeting with the senior Police and intelligence officers also.
The committee is scheduled to visit some border areas of Jammu before leaving for Kashmir on June 23.
The interactions with the Lieutenant Governors of both the Union Territories, the J&K Chief Minister, senior army officers and other crucial stakeholders in J&K and Ladakh vis-à-vis specific agenda of the panel are likely to be part of its itinerary.
