A day after Congress president Sonia Gandhi pulled up former Union minister Shashi Tharoor over the leak of his views against party's stalling tactics in Parliament in the media, the Lok Sabha MP was highly praised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday for his speech at an Oxford Union debate.

PM Modi praised Shashi Tharoor for articulating India's view point at the Oxford debate, which has gone viral on YouTube, at a workshop on Sustainable Development Goals at a Speaker's Research Initiative programme held in New Delhi. Tharoor, who was sitting in the front row, reciprocated with smile on Modi's praise.

"Whatever Shashi Tharoor said in the Oxford debate went viral on YouTube. Emotion of an Indian was reflected in his speech at Oxford," PM Modi said. The Congress MP was among the few non-BJP MPs present in the gathering that included veteran Parliamentarian L K Advani, ministers and MPs belonging to BJP and its allies.



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In an explosive speech at the Oxford Union, Shashi Tharoor argued that the British looted and plundered India during the two-century Raj of the subcontinent, and that Britain must accept that it owes a debt to India for its wrongdoings during the days of the Empire. Taking part in a debate at the famed Oxford Union, the Congress MP argued why Britain owes India reparations for the economic and psychological decline of its people during the rule, and that of all the countries in the Commonwealth, India was Britain's biggest cash cow from that period.

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Tharoor, a former Under Secretary-General at the United Nations and an author of several books, explained the manner in which Britain used India and its resources for its own benefit, and that British families working for the Empire had minted money at the expense of India for over two centuries.

Tharoor had found himself in problems over his praise of Modi on a few occasions ever since he came to power last year and attracted criticism within the party for that. He had accepted the Prime Minister's invitation to join the 'Clean India' campaign and had recently praised Modi's campaign on yoga and had also remarked that the Prime Minister leaves a positive impact on the countries he visits though he follows the UPA policies