Bilawal Bhutto-led Pakistani delegation in London for diplomatic outreach
A Pakistani delegation led by former Pakistan Foreign Minister and chairman of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari arrived in London on Sunday (June 9, 2025) night from Washington, as part of Islamabad's diplomatic outreach following recent hostilities between India and Pakistan.
Islamabad's diplomatic exercise, comprising two delegations, was announced after New Delhi announced that it would send seven delegations to world capitals to convey its outrage on the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam in which 26 civilians, almost all Indian men, were shot dead by terrorists.
India has also sought to explain 'Operation Sindoor', its retaliatory strikes on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and the consequent armed conflict between the two countries.
Both countries' delegations had overlapped last week in Washington. Pakistan is seeking international involvement in the conflict and a reversal of India's decision to hold the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 in abeyance.
The Pakistani delegation in London included three other former foreign ministers: Jalil Abbas Jilani, Khuran Dastagir Khan (Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz or PML-N) and Hina Rabbani Khar (PPP). It also included PPP vice-chair Sherry Rehman (PPP), Climate minister Musadik Masoor Malik (PML-N) and Adeel Mumtaz who directs the India desk at the Pakistani foreign ministry. Members of Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party were not part of the group.
The delegation was scheduled to speak on-the-record at the think tank IISS. It was also scheduled to speak off the record on Monday morning at Chatham House, prior to the IISS event, and hold meetings at the U.K. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in the afternoon according to a source familiar with the delegation schedule. The delegation is expected to travel to Brussels after London.
Ahead of their closed door bilateral discussions in New Delhi on Saturday, India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had told his UK counterpart David Lammy that India practiced a 'zero tolerance policy' with regard to terrorism and 'expected its partners to understand it'.
In London, Washington and other capitals, India's delegations had been keen to emphasise, last week, that there could be no equivalence between the perpetrators of terror and its victims.
New Delhi has also pushed back against any third party intervention in the conflict between India and Pakistan, most notably U.S. President Donald Trump's repeated insistence that he brokered the May 10 ceasefire between the countries and used trade as leverage to achieve it.
Mr Lammy remarks in a May 17 Reuters interview from Islamabad, in which he had said the U.K. and U.S. were working on an enduring ceasefire in the region, had raised eyebrows in New Delhi.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Hindustan Times
5 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Pakistan is in the grip of military-terror nexus: Ravi Shankar Prasad
NEW DELHI: A delegation of lawmakers and former diplomats that visited six European countries to gather support for India's efforts to fight terrorism, told the foreign interlocutors that Pakistan's military did not reciprocate India's initiatives and that the military-terror nexus was the main hurdle to peace, former minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party MP Ravi Shankar Prasad said. Prasad, who led a nine-member delegation that travelled to France, Italy, Denmark, the UK, Belgium and Germany from May 25 to June 7, said the delegation spoke about the historical perspective of how the two nations were born on the same day after Partition but while Pakistan was 'going around with a begging bowl', India was the fourth largest economy. 'We fought four conventional wars, and we were never the aggressors… And treaties were signed but it is the (Pakistan) army that is responsible for tensions between the two countries,' he said. The delegation was one of the seven that were sent to different countries as part of India's diplomatic outreach after New Delhi carried out retaliatory strikes on May 7 across 9 terror camps in territory controlled by Pakistan for the April 22 terror attack in Kashmir's Pahalgam that killed 26 people. 'Pakistan is not only a state in denial, but it is in the grip of a deadly combination of military-terrorist nexus. Army generals have been in power for many years, from General Zia ul Haq to Asim Munir. And the generals use these terrorists as proxies to make themselves relevant. That is why there is no peace,' he said. During their interactions abroad, he said the delegation put forth the efforts made by India to establish peaceful bilateral ties, and how these were rebuffed by the neighbouring country. 'No matter which government has been in power, they all have tried to have good relations. PM Narendra Modi invited Nawaz Sharief to his swearing-in ceremony (in 2014), he attended the wedding of his grandson (granddaughter), yet Uri and Pulwama attacks happened,' he said. He was referring to the attack on an Indian army brigade headquarters in Uri, carried out in 2016 by Pakistan trained terrorists and the attack on soldiers in Pulwama in Kashmir in 2019. Asked if the delegation was questioned about the evidence available with India against Pakistan, Prasad said, 'We had enough evidence and our initial comments about the terror attacks would dispel their misconceptions. When they did ask for operation details, we told them that such information cannot be revealed.' To highlight the misuse of international funds by Pakistan, the delegation saidthe last loan that India secured from the IMF was in 1991, but Pakistan continues to borrow and use the funds for weapons. 'It has borrowed 25 times and uses it to buy weapons, and China supplies 80% of these,' Prasad said. To a question on whether India's position on the Russia-Ukraine conflict came up for discussion, Prasad said, 'We were asked about Ukraine and we told them that we have very old relations with Russians. But the PM (Narendra Modi) was clear in telling President Putin that this is not the age of war… and this was televised… Our Prime Minister also said that coming from the land of Buddha and Mahatma Gandhi does not mean that we need to tolerate terrorism.'


Hans India
12 minutes ago
- Hans India
Went for the country and spoke for the country: Tharoor on Op Sindoor outreach
New Delhi: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who led a nine-member Indian delegation including MPs from different political parties as part of Operation Sindoor outreach to five countries, including the US and Brazil, on Tuesday said that the tour was hugely successful. "I went for the country and spoke for the country," said Tharoor while interacting with the Malayalam media here on Tuesday in response to a question about his party's outlook on the venture. Apart from Tharoor, the team included Sarfaraz Ahmad, Ganti Harish Madhur, Shashank Mani Tripathi, Bhubaneswar Kalita, Tejasvi Surya, and former Ambassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu, and it also visited Panama, Guyana, and Colombia. "The whole purpose of the visit was to interact with think tanks, Presidents, Vice Presidents, parliamentarians and also former top political leaders and to brief them on what had happened,' said Tharoor. About his American visit, he said nothing about trade issues or about who 'intervened' to stop the aggression was raised during their interactions, in a reference to President Donald Trump's statements. "After explaining the Indian position, all have understood things, as Pakistan had presented a weak case, as terrorists had attacked tourists," he added. Asked about what he intends to do following the visit, he said: "I am going to submit a detailed report to the Prime Minister, and it will be my report." "The trip was very hectic as we were travelling at night and hardly got time to sleep," Tharoor added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had selected Tharoor to be part of the delegation and lead it, after it was found out that the Congress party's list did not have the name of Tharoor. Ever since Tharoor decided to contest against the official party high command's nominee, Malikarjuna Kharge, for the post of Congress president, a majority in the Congress leadership was unhappy with him, but knowing his popularity, he managed to get support from a section of the party in Kerala. Tharoor is a four-time Congress MP from the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency since 2009.


Indian Express
15 minutes ago
- Indian Express
India's policy of zero tolerance against terror is unshakable: Minister Rai
India has shown the world through Operation Sindoor that anyone who dares raise their eyes towards it will not be capable of seeing again, Minister of State (Home) Nityanand Rai said Tuesday. He was speaking at the 23rd edition of NSG's Counter-Terror International Seminar at Manekshaw Centre. 'The entire country has realised that in the fight against terrorism the Modi government has not shown any lack of political will or resources. This is new India and our policy of zero tolerance against terrorism is unshakable. There will be challenges, but the nation's security and dignity will remain top priority. We have shown and taught the world that anyone who dares raise their eyes towards India, will not be capable of seeing again,' Rai said. He said cowardly acts such as the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack do not weaken India, rather only strengthen its resolve. 'Through Operation Sindoor India has made it clear that it will answer any terror attack on its soil with courage and determination and will also achieve success. The international community has now seen India's determination. We have always been votaries of peace and dialogue. But if anyone provokes us and threatens our sovereignty we will not only defend ourselves but also defeat the ill intentions of the enemy,' he said. The NSG's two-day flagship event, under the theme 'Forging Collaboration and Innovation to Counter Terror Threats and Address the Complexities of Modern Terrorism', aims to foster inter-agency coordination, operational synergy, and strategic integration in Counter-Terrorism (CT) and Counter-IED operations. Initiating the seminar, NSG DG Brighu Srinivasan detailed NSG's continuing role in counter-terror efforts and the role its personnel played in defending the Jammu airport during Operation Sindoor. 'During Operation Sindoor, our personnel played a special role in neutralising a drone with explosive payload near Jammu airport. Last month, along with state police and the RPF, counter-terror exercise was organised in the railways in Jammu. In future, train intervention exercises will be increased,' he said. According to the NSG chief, a security audit of inland water tourist liners in India was conducted by the force recently and anti-hijack exercises were carried out on cruise liners running on the Ganga and Brahmaputra rivers. Delegations from over 17 foreign countries including the US, Russia, Japan, Israel, Germany, and Indonesia are participating, along with senior officers from state police forces, CAPFs, the Army and intelligence agencies.