Shashi Tharoor's 'Osama' Reminder To Trump Mediation Claim: 'No Equivalence Between Terrorists & Victims'
Shashi Tharoor asserted India rejects mediation with Pakistan, emphasizing no equivalence between terrorists and victims.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said on Thursday that mediation implies equivalence and that there is not equivalence between terrorists and their victims, between a state that dispatches terrorists and a state that repels them. He further said that if Pakistan chose to attack, India would respond to it, and this message was given not just to Pakistan but to the world.
“We never needed persuading to stop. If there were any pressure from American President Trump, that pressure would have only been on Pakistan. It would have only been on General Munir... That is something we all must understand. We welcome any pressure the Americans may have put on Pakistan, but we did not ask for it. We did not request anyone's mediation... It was fully understood when we explained this in our delegation meetings (in the USA),” Tharoor said, as quoted by news agency ANI.
“I can assure you that what the Prime Minister has reported is the same message that we ourselves had given. I personally spoke to the USA Vice President. We have been diplomatic and correct in not saying this publicly, but today I can reveal it. There is no doubt at any level of the US Administration where India stands on this matter,” he further added.
The recent remarks by Tharoor come after Trump’s lunch date Wednesday with Pak Army chief General Asim Munir. Speaking on the lunch, Tharoor said that United States must remember Pakistan’s terror links. “I hope the Americans will remind Pakistan of the great importance of not supporting terrorism, of not enabling, equipping, financing and dispatching terrorists to our country,” Tharoor said.
“It is our hope that everyone in the US government has not forgotten the episode of Osama bin Laden,” he said.
The lunch between Trump and Munir is being viewed as an alarm in India. The White House visit of General Munir was scheduled after Trump spoke to PM Modi on the phone. Prime Minister Narendra Modi – speaking from the G7 summit – was asked to the White House as well, but, for obvious reasons, declined the invitation.
During the phone call with President Trump, PM Modi said that India will never ask for third-party mediation to resolve the issue of Pakistan's illegal occupation of Kashmir.
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