Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shasi Tharoor Wednesday released a ‘public report’ of his visit to the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, following a controversy brewing with Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan saying he was not an emissary of the state government. Tharoor claimed he had a conversation with Vijayan before his departure to Geneva.
In a statement issued, his office stated: “Dr Tharoor travelled in his individual capacity and at his own expense, as an MP from Kerala and as a former UN Under-Secretary-General, with 29 years experience in the organisation and an extensive network of contacts in the international humanitarian community. This reach was primarily due to a moral responsibility he felt as a Keralite to explore possibilities of international assistance and support to alleviate the sufferings of fellow Keralites, and place these recommendations before the state government for its consideration, and pursuance, if found necessary, with the central government.”