'I Don't Work For Govt But...': Shashi Tharoor Lauds Op Sindoor In US, Says 'India Hit Hard And Smart'
Shashi Tharoor underscored India's clear message that it was not going to take terror lying down. He praised India for delivering very precisely, calculated, calibrated strikes during Op Sindoor.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Saturday highlighted how India responded in a measured and calibrated manner following the dastardly Pahalgam terror attack. He praised how India "hit hard and smart" druing Operation Sindoor, which was launched to strike terror bases and headquarters in Pakistan, as he stressed India's message that it was not going to take terror lying down.
During an interaction at the Indian Consulate in New York, Tharoor said: "I don't work for the government, as you know. I work for an opposition party, but I myself authored an op-ed in one of India's leading papers, within a couple of days saying that the time had come to hit hard and hit smart and I'm pleased to say that's exactly what India did."
Tharoor Slams Pak For Being In Denial
Speaking about India's response in wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, he outlined how precise and calibrated strikes were conducted on "nine specific known terrorist bases, headquarters and launchpads" in Pakistan and PoK. "These included those of the Lashkar-e-Taiba in Muridke, Jaish-e-Mohammad in Bahawalpur, responsible amongst other things for the murder of Daniel Pearl."
Tharoor further underscored that "India sent a clear message that it was not going to take terror lying down, it would answer, but equally that by delivering very precisely, calculated, calibrated strikes on very specific targets, it was also sending a message that this was not meant to be the opening salvo in a protracted war but just an act of retribution, that we were prepared to stop with that act".
Tharoor also said that the time had come to set a "new bottom line" in India's dealings with Pakistan. "We have tried everything - international dossiers, complaints, everything has been tried," he added.
He further slammed Pakistan for not taking any action against terrorism and instead being in denial. "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," he said.
'We Are Not Interested In Warfare'
The Congress MP also clarified that India did not seek war with Pakistan, and has demonstrated its ability to strike with a "degree of precision". "We are not interested in warfare. We would much rather be left alone to grow our economy and pull our people into the world they are getting ready for in the 21st century," Tharoor added.
He gave a call for the world to come together to fight unitedly against terrorism, saying, "We came both as a reminder that this is a shared problem, but also out of a spirit of solidarity with the victims... It's a global problem, it's a scourge and we must all fight it unitedly."
The all-party delegation led by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor comprises of Shambhavi Chaudhary (Lok Janshakti Party), Sarfaraz Ahmed (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha), G M Harish Balayagi (Telugu Desam Party), Shashank Mani Tripathi, Tejaswi Surya, Bhubaneswar K Lata (all from BJP), Mallikarjun Devda (Shiv Sena) and Former Indian Ambassador to the US,Taranjit Singh Sandhu.
The delegation will visit five countries, including the United States, Panama, Guyana, Brazil, and Colombia, and project India's national consensus and firm stance on combating terrorism in all its forms, carrying India's strong message of zero tolerance against terrorism.
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