Washington: The Indian all-party parliamentary delegation currently on a diplomatic outreach in the United States has stated that its interactions in several countries have clearly revealed a complete lack of sympathy for Pakistan and overwhelming support for India’s stance on cross-border terrorism.
Speaking at a press conference Wednesday, delegation head and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said, “What we are seeking to do in every country is to explain our version of events, our experience of the last few weeks, to seek the solidarity and understanding of those we meet and speak to.”
“I’m very pleased to say that so far, our batting average is over 100 — in other words, every single person we have met so far has immediately not only condemned resolutely the terrorist attack upon India and expressed their outrage and their sympathy, but they have also explicitly endorsed India’s right to defend itself against terrorism, and this kind of understanding has been most welcome.”
Tharoor described the Pahalgam terror attack as an egregious disruption during a time of economic and social optimism in Kashmir.
“Kashmir was booming. Ordinary Kashmiris are benefiting from vast numbers of tourists coming in, putting money into their hands and their pockets. It was a lovely time. And here’s this innocent group of holiday tourists on a dappled meadow in Kashmir being murdered in cold blood by people coming and asking their religion and shooting them between the eyes,” he said.
“It really was a sickening outrage, and the nation rose as one to support whatever the government chose to do, and what the government chose to do in the end was what most of us would have wanted,” he added.
He also explained India’s calibrated military response and eventual ceasefire.
“If you were to go back and look at the briefings the government gave each morning, the message is very clear: we are hitting them because they are hitting us. If they stop, we’ll stop. And after 88 hours, the Pakistani Director General of Military Operations reached out to his Indian counterpart and said, let’s call it off. And we called it off,” Tharoor said.
On Pakistan’s global credibility, Tharoor was clear, and questioned, “Where was Osama bin Laden? Who did Mumbai, who is conducting these other attacks, which agencies, and which terrorist organisations and individuals are listed in the UN committee? All of this is incontrovertible stuff, and so they know.”
When asked about how foreign interlocutors responded to India’s account of Pakistan’s actions, Tharoor noted, “It didn’t surprise us that nobody came back and said, ‘Oh, but we love Pakistan’. Everyone either took it exactly the way we had told them, or they specifically went out of the way to stress that there was no sympathy over what Pakistan had done.”
He summed up the policy sentiment in Washington as reflecting two things: “total support and solidarity with India’s fight against terrorism” and “complete understanding of India’s right to defend itself.”
Tejasvi Surya, BJP MP and another member of the delegation, also took aim at Pakistan’s posturing.
“Bhutto has been calling his delegation a peace delegation and it is ironic that Pakistan speaking the language of peace is like the devil quoting from the scriptures. They are trying to create fake heroes by promoting failed Generals to Field Marshals. They don’t know what true leaders look like,” he said.
Surya emphasised that India’s position received clear endorsement abroad.
“In the last few days, in the countries that we visited, as well as the discussions we had with various senators and Congressmen, there is absolutely no sympathy towards the Pakistani cause. There has been an unequivocal support in so far as India’s position is concerned,” he added.
Former Indian Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, who is accompanying the delegation, reiterated the global implications of India’s fight.
“These are the same terrorists who have threatened the United States in the past, and you have just witnessed terrorism here. You can do it in the future too. So actually, India is fighting the battle on behalf of the world,” he said.
The delegation includes a diverse political mix, with members such as Shambhavi Choudhary of the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), Sarfaraz Ahmad of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Milind Murli Deora of the Shiv Sena, Bhubaneswar Kalita and Tejasvi Surya of the BJP, and GM Harish Balayogi of the Telugu Desam Party, a National Democratic Alliance partner.
