Colombia withdraws statement for Pakistan, will issue strong support for India: Shashi Tharoor
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Friday (local time) said that Colombia will issue a statement of strong support for India's position after the country withdrew their statement condoling the deaths of Pakistanis in Indian strikes.
Tharoor made the statement during the all-party delegation's visit to Tadeo Lozano University in Bogota, where the group also paid floral tribute to Mahatma Gandhi.
"We met with the Foreign Ministry - the Senior Vice Minister received us. We had some good news: They have withdrawn their statement that disappointed us earlier and will issue a statement of strong support for our position and understanding of our position. Finally, here we are before this beautiful bust of Mahatma Gandhi on the campus of the main university," Tharoor said.
Former Indian Ambassador to the United States and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Taranjit Singh Sandhu said that the delegation's detailed explanation helped reverse the Colombian stance.
"This morning we had a detailed interaction with the acting Foreign Minister and our leader and the entire team made specific points to them explaining to them the timeline which perhaps to an extent they might have missed out. The end result was that they are withdrawing one of the other statements which had come out and have promised and stated, actually quite clearly, on terrorism and the issue. The importance of Colombia, apart from other reasons, is also that it will be a member of the Security Council soon," Sandhu told ANI.
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Additionally, BJP MP Shashank Madded that Colombia, a country once plagued by terrorism, now understands India's position well.
"It is notable that terrorism has affected Colombia as well. However, after a long struggle, Colombia is now a peaceful country. We have come here with a message of peace. We have clearly stated that we will give a fitting response to every terrorist attack, and when it is over, we want nothing but peace."
BJP MP Shashank Mani added that Colombia, a country once plagued by terrorism, now understands India's position well.
In a significant accomplishment for India in its global outreach effort to expose Pakistan and to convey its zero tolerance against Terrorism, Colombia, which earlier in its statement sympathised with Pakistan over the loss of lives, has now withdrawn its statement.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who is leading the all-party delegation to the Americas during his Bogota visit, expressed dismay over the South American country's stance during a press conference on Thursday. He said that India was disappointed with the Colombian government for expressing condolences over the loss of lives in Pakistan during
Operation Sindoor
, rather than sympathising with the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack.
"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," said Tharoor.
"We will say to our friends in Colombia, there can be no equivalence between those who dispatch terrorists and those who resist them. There can be no equivalence between those who attack and those who defend. We are only exercising our right of self-defence, and if there is any misunderstanding here, on this core, we are here to dispel any such misunderstanding", he added.
While speaking with ANI on Friday, after the Indian delegation met with the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia, Rosa Yolanda Villavicencio in Bogota, said that "we are very confident with the explanation that we received today and the detailed information that we now have regarding the real situation, the conflict, and what happened in Kashmir, we can also continue the dialogue..."
Appreciating Colombian position on the matter after explaining India's view and position, Tharoor said that "The Vice Minister very graciously mentioned that they have withdrawn the statement that we had expressed concern about and that they fully understand our position on the matter, which is something we really value," says Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Colombia withdrawing its earlier statement to ANI.
Tharoor is leading the multi-party delegation to the Americas. After visiting Panama and Guyana, Tharoor and his delegation arrived in Colombia on Thursday in an effort of India's global outreach to convey India's zero tolerance against terrorism. After concluding the Colombia visit, the all-party delegation will be heading to Brazil and the United States on Saturday.
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