Parliament member Shashi Tharoor, as chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, on Monday visited the local passport office in Jammu after concluding his tour of the Valley. Tharoor’s visit to Jammu and Kashmir focused on reviewing India-Pakistan and Sino-Indian relations, as well as the functioning of local passport offices.
His itinerary included the Passport Seva Kendra in Jammu and a meeting with Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha. The visit sparked political controversy, with Tharoor clarifying that the committee’s mandate was external affairs, not domestic issues. After meeting the J&K L-G, he remarked that the region was “inching towards normalcy.”
Criticism arose from the Congress’s J&K unit, which faulted him for not meeting party workers or locals. Youth leaders argued his comments ignored ground realities. Tharoor stressed that assessing domestic security or internal policies was outside the committee’s scope.
On X, Tharoor shared: “While at the Regional Passport Office in Jammu, and after a warm welcome from traditional folk dancers, we popped by to take a look at the pharmacy that served for 20 years as the clinic where the local MP Jitendra Singh practised before becoming Minister in the PMO.
It’s in a corner of the same building. A welcome reminder that for most MPs, there’s real life before and after politics! It was a pleasure, Jitendra Singh! I, too, wish you could have been with us… But you were celebrated in absentia!!” Responding, Jitendra Singh wrote: “In an unusual gesture full of friendship and affection, Hon’ble MP and former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor ji, currently in Jammu as Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, visited Auqaf Complex, Gandhi Nagar, to have a glimpse of the Chamber which was my Consultation Clinic as Diabetologist & Physician for over two decades.
Incidentally, it is in this very clinic that I used to attend to Shashi Tharoor ji’s mother-in-law and Sunanda ji’s mother, Mrs Das, who had Type 2 Diabetes and was under my regular follow-up. These days, the chamber is occupied by a pharmacy outlet.
Thanks, Shashi ji, it was very inspiring… I wish I had accompanied you, if only I knew you were going to be in Jammu.” The exchange revealed how personal relations between rival politicians can transcend party barriers.