New Delhi: Veteran journalist and former Minister of State for External Affairs MJ Akbar has returned to limelight as part of Narendra Modi government’s newly formed global outreach team. The multi-party delegations, tasked with garnering international support against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, are part of India’s diplomatic response after the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor.
Akbar, 74, will be among the members of a delegation headed to Europe, led by senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad. The delegation will include Dr Daggubati Purandeshwari, Priyanka Chaturvedi, Ghulam Ali Khatana, Dr Amar Singh, Samik Bhattacharya, and Ambassador Pankaj Saran. The delegation will visit UK, France, Germany, Italy, Denmark, and the European Union. The outreach aims to reinforce India’s position on cross-border terrorism and expose Pakistan’s support for terror networks.
Sexual harassment allegations
Akbar’s inclusion has raised eyebrows given his controversial exit from ministerial office in October 2018, when he resigned amidst a flurry of sexual harassment allegations during #MeToo movement. Over a dozen women, most of them journalists, accused him of predatory behaviour during his long media career. The first public allegation came from journalist Priya Ramani, whom Akbar sued for criminal defamation—a case he lost in 2021, when a Delhi court acquitted Ramani and upheld a woman’s right to speak her truth even decades later.
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A BJP strategist told the New Indian Express: “Akbar’s knowledge of Pakistan’s ideological foundations and his journalistic credibility make him a potent voice against the narrative Islamabad pushes globally.”
Akbar’s praise for PM over Pak action
In his writings for past few weeks, he praised PM Modi’s counter-terror doctrine, calling it a decisive shift in India’s strategic thinking: “Terrorism is war, and Prime Minister Modi has acted with the clarity and courage history demands.” He has also chided Pakistan for its support for terror organisations.
The government’s global initiative, spread across seven multi-party delegations, includes members from the BJP, Congress, DMK, JD(U), NCP, Shiv Sena, and other parties. Leaders such as Shashi Tharoor, Kanimozhi, and Supriya Sule will be part of similar missions to countries across Europe, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and the Americas.
