Shashi Tharoor on Operation Sindoor

NEW DELHI: In a show of unity cutting across political lines, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor in US, leading an all-party delegation to countries in Americas, on Saturday strongly defended India’s measured but forceful response to the Pahalgam terror attack. Speaking at a public interaction at the Indian Consulate, Tharoor specified how the India calibrated military strikes sent a clear and precise message to perpetrators and their backers.“I don’t work for the government, as you know. I work for an opposition party…I myself authored an op-ed…saying the time has come to hit hard but hit smart. I’m pleased to say that’s exactly what India did…very precise and calibrated strikes took place on 9 specific known terrorist bases, headquarters and launchpads,” Thiruvananthapuram MP said.The all-party delegation includes members from the BJP, Congress, Shiv Sena, TDP, JMM, and LJP, along with former Indian Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu. Their mission is to engage with lawmakers, think tanks, the media, and civil society across countries to present a united Indian stance on terrorism and national security.“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 trouble a number of people around the world,” Tharoor said.He added: “there is reasonable amount of calm that’s raining on the border of India-Pakistan today but the fundamental underlying problem remains…So it’s for us an opportunity, we will be in every country, meeting members of the executive, meeting members of the legislature, meeting big tankers and influential foreign policy experts, and at the same time interacting with the media and public opinion in every one of these places.“The delegation’s visit also serves as a gesture of solidarity with the victims of terrorism worldwide. “We are in a city that still bears the scars of a savage terrorist attack. We came not only to express our support for victims, who include Indians, Americans, and others, but also to underline that terrorism is a shared global threat,” he added.Tharoor recalled the horrors of the Pakistan-backed 26/11 Mumbai attacks and highlighted how attackers received real-time instructions from handlers in Pakistan. He also referred to Pakistan’s well-known support and shelter to Osama Bin Laden, a key culprit of 9/11 attacks in the United States. Former diplomat also highlighted how US under its ‘Operation Neptune Spear’ hunt down most-wanted terrorist, found him deep inside Pakistan, near an army cantonment in Abbottabad. “We are determined now that there’s got to be a new bottom line to this. We have tried everything, international dossier, complaints…everything has been tried. Pakistan has remained in denial, there has been absolutely no conviction, no serious criminal prosecution, no attempt to dismantle the terror infrastructure in that country, and the persistence of safe havens…you (Pakistan) do this, you are going to get this back and we have demonstrated with this Operation (Operation Sindoor) that we can do it with a degree of precision,” Tharoor said, echoing the government’s hardened stance, a “new normal” defined by PM Modi.