'Hugely Impressed...': Shashi Tharoor Lauds Jaishankar, MEA for Nalanda University Revival

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday praised External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) for their role in establishing the new Nalanda University campus in Bihar,

describing it as one of the ministry’s many “unsung contributions” to the country.In a post on X, Tharoor said he was deeply impressed by the campus while attending a literature festival at Nalanda University.“…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,” he wrote.

Tharoor, a former Union minister and the Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, was in Bihar to participate in the literary event. Speaking to reporters in Patna, he said his visit was not politically motivated.“I came to Bihar to witness its culture, not to fulfil any political agenda. I encourage others to explore the Bihar Museum and the Bapu Tower,” he said.The Congress leader has, on several occasions, publicly acknowledged initiatives of the Narendra Modi government, sometimes taking positions that differ from those of his party leadership.On Monday, Tharoor had remarked on the broader state of higher education in India, 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.” Against that backdrop, he said the revival of Nalanda University carries special significance as a symbol of India’s civilisational heritage.The ancient Nalanda Mahavihara was one of the world’s foremost centres of learning for centuries. The site includes archaeological remains of a monastic and scholastic institution that flourished from the third century BCE until the 13th century CE. The ruins were accorded UNESCO World Heritage status in 2016.Tharoor described the original Nalanda as a leading global institution “not just because there was no competition, but also because it was an extraordinary institution.” He said it was a matter of “great, great satisfaction” that the university has been re-established after nearly 800 years, following what he termed its “third and lasting” destruction around 1200 AD by Bakhtyar Khilji.He said the modern Nalanda stands as a reminder of India’s long intellectual tradition and its potential role in global higher education once again.