Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Friday alleged that the Kerala government displayed “misplaced generosity” by giving financial aid to earthquake-hit Turkey in 2023. His remark led to sharp responses from leaders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the ruling party in Kerala.

Tharoor’s comments came in the backdrop of Ankara’s support for Islamabad during heightened tensions between India and Pakistan, and amid reports that Pakistan used Turkish-made drones during the conflict.

The Congress MP on Friday referred to a report noting that the Kerala government had sanctioned Rs 10 crore as financial assistance to Turkey after the 2023 earthquake and said: “I hope the Govt of Kerala reflects on its misplaced generosity, after seeing Turkey's behaviour two years later. Not to mention that the people of Wayanad [just to take one Kerala example] could have used those ten crores far better.”

Tharoor was referring to a series of landslides triggered by heavy rains in Wayanad in July 2024, which left over 400 dead. The landslides took place a year-and-a-half after the earthquake in Turkey and Syria on February 6, 2023, which killed over 50,000 persons and injured over 1.2 lakh.

Responding to Tharoor’s remark, Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP John Brittas said that while he had great regard for the Congress MP, his comments were symptoms of “selective amnesia”.

“It is as amusing [and] puzzling why he had to belittle Kerala when he knows very well the Modi govt itself had launched Operation Dost to help Turkey,” Brittas said. “Kerala bashing is unwarranted.”

Under Operation Dost, the Indian government had sent relief material worth over Rs 7 crore to Turkey and Syria. India had also sent three teams of the National Disaster Response Force to Turkey, as well as personnel and equipment to set up a field hospital.

In response to Tharoor’s criticism of the Kerala government, state Finance Minister and Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader KN Balagopal also said that the financial assistance to Turkey was not a case of misplaced generosity, The Indian Express reported.

“At the time of a major disaster, we had to take a humane approach,” Balagopal said. “The aid was handed over to Turkey through the Indian Ministry of External Affairs [MEA]. It is wrong to club that gesture of 2023 with the border crisis of 2025.”

Amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, Tharoor is leading a delegation of MPs to the United States, Brazil and several other countries to put forward New Delhi’s stand on the conflict. Brittas is also part of a delegation headed to Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.