New Delhi: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who is currently heading an all-party delegation to the Americas, welcomed the Colombian government’s revised statement supporting India after the recent terror attack in Pahalgam. Speaking on Saturday, Tharoor said he was pleased with Colombia’s decision to roll back its earlier remarks and express solidarity with India. According to Tharoor, Colombia initially seemed to misunderstand India’s position, but following diplomatic discussions, the country’s foreign ministry amended its stance.
“I’m very pleased to say that following our discussions with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Vice Minister announced that this statement has been withdrawn and that they will certainly express publicly their understanding and sympathy for our situation,” he said during an interaction with the Colombian Council On International Relations (Cori) and a select group of political analysts and diplomats at the Gun Club.
India clarifies terror response
Tharoor said that the delegation’s mission was to clarify India’s concerns and present its perspective on recent developments, particularly the Pahalgam terror attack and the country’s military response. “That mission is to reach out to people like you and communicate our point of view and our concerns about recent events in our country, which you have already alluded to — the terrorist attack on our country and our decisive response — which perhaps was not initially what they understood, as you alluded to the statement that was issued. We were very disappointed by that statement,” he added.
Previously, Tharoor had criticised Colombia for expressing condolences over deaths in Pakistan following India’s counter-terror strikes, instead of supporting victims of the Pahalgam attack.
“We were a little disappointed in the reaction of the Colombian government, which apparently expressed heartfelt condolences on the loss of lives in Pakistan after the Indian strikes, rather than sympathising with the victims of terrorism.”
The all-party delegation, led by Tharoor, is touring several countries in the Americas to assert India’s zero-tolerance approach towards terrorism. After visiting Panama and Guyana, the delegation arrived in Colombia on Thursday and is scheduled to travel next to Brazil and the United States.
