New Delhi: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who is now in Columbia with an all-party delegation, expressed his disappointment with that country’s initial reaction to Operation Sindoor. Columbia had condemned the loss of lives in Pakistan after India struck terror facilities there on May 7.
The Indian delegation is part of the government’s global outreach to convey India’s strong resolve to fight terrorism.
“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,” he said.
Tharoor said how New Delhi has concrete proof that Pakistan-sponsored terror was behind the April 22 Pahalgam attack in which 26 civilians were massacred.
“We are only exercising our right of self-defence. We’re very happy to talk to Colombia in some detail about the circumstances. Just as Colombia has endured many terror attacks, so have we in India. We have endured a very large number of attacks for almost four decades, ” he said.
The Thiruvananthapuram MP pointed to how China supplies 81 per cent of all Pakistani defence equipment, while bringing up the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, part of which runs through Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
“Defence is a polite word. Pakistani military equipment, much of it is not for defence but for attack. Our quarrel is with the perpetration of terror against us,” he said.
The delegation reached Colombia on Thursday after visiting Panama and Guyana. During the course of their stay in Bogota, the delegation will be interacting with the Members of Congress, Ministers and other key interlocutors in think tanks and media.
The delegation also includes Sarfraz Ahmad (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha), G M Harish Balayogi (Telugu Desam Party), Shashank Mani Tripathi (BJP), Bhubaneswar Kalita (BJP), Milind Deora (Shiv Sena), Tejasvi Surya (BJP), and former ambassador of India to US Taranjit Singh Sandhu.
The group is one of the seven India has tasked to visit 33 global capitals to reach out to the international community after the Pahalgam terror attack.
