New Delhi: In a compelling address at the Indian Consulate on Saturday, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor highlighted India’s “measured and calibrated” response to terror bases in Pakistan following the horrific Pahalgam terror attack, which claimed 26 lives. Tharoor, leading an all-party delegation on a crucial diplomatic tour, issued a fervent call for global unity in combating the pervasive threat of terrorism.
The delegation’s poignant first stop was the 9/11 Memorial, a visit Tharoor described as deeply moving. He stated, “It was also meant to send a very strong message that we are here in a city which is bearing still the scars of that savage terrorist attack in the wake of yet another terrorist attack in our own country.” This visit, he explained, was a dual reminder of terrorism’s shared global challenge and a gesture of solidarity with its victims. “It’s a global problem, it’s a scourge and we must all fight it unitedly,” he affirmed.
The primary aim of this all-party delegation, visiting Guyana, Panama, Colombia, Brazil, and the United States, is to engage diverse public and political opinions. They aim to foster a deeper understanding of India’s concerns and unwavering stance on terrorism, ensuring the world doesn’t “look away” from the truth.
The delegation is slated to meet with executive and legislative members, foreign policy experts, and media in each country, projecting India’s resolute message of zero tolerance for terrorism.
“Our idea is very much to speak to a cross section of public and political opinion in each of the countries we’re going to about recent events which obviously trouble a number of people around the world. The fundamental underlying problem remains and it’s important that we try and enlarge your understanding of our thinking and our concern about what’s going on,” he said.
Tharoor highlighted the extraordinary display of national unity across Jammu and Kashmir, transcending religious and other divides, showcasing a clear rejection of the “malign intent.” India, he lamented, had “no reason to doubt where it came from.”
“It was a bunch of people going around identifying the religions of the people before them and killing them on that basis, which was clearly intended to provoke a backlash in the rest of India, since the victims were overwhelmingly Hindu.”
He revealed that “The Resistance Front (TRF),” a known front organization of the proscribed Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), had claimed credit for the atrocity within an hour. Despite India’s efforts to highlight TRF’s activities at the UN sanctions committee, Pakistan, with China’s aid, regrettably succeeded in removing reference to TRF from a UN Security Council press statement.
“Sadly Pakistan chose to follow its usual path of denial, in fact, Pakistan with the help of China succeeded in removing the reference to TRF from the press statement drafted in the Security Council of the UN two days later”.
Addressing India’s subsequent actions, Tharoor, though an opposition MP, expressed satisfaction. He recounted authoring an op-ed urging India to “hit hard and hit smart,” which he proudly noted was precisely “what the nation did”.
“I don’t work for the government, as you know. I work for an opposition party, but I myself authored an op-ed in one of India’s leading papers, within a couple of days saying that the time had come to hit hard and hit smart and I’m pleased to say that’s exactly what India did.”
