'Countries of Gandhi, Mandela': Supriya Sule-led delegation concludes diplomatic visit to South Africa
Supriya Sule-led delegation in South Africa (ANI)
The Group-7 all-party delegation, led by
Supriya Sule
of NCP (SP), concluded its diplomatic visit to South Africa with a series of meetings involving political leaders, think tanks, and the diaspora at India House in Pretoria, the administrative capital of the African nation.
Addressing a press conference on Thursday (local time), Sule reflected on the legacy of both Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela, saying that their "shared values of non-violence and peace" bind the two countries.
"India has always globally led for peace and the deep relationship, friendship we have had with South Africa - two sons (Gandhi, Mandela) of this global soil who have always talked about non-violence. So, we feel very close to South Africa," news agency ANI quoted Sule as saying.
Further, the Baramati MP addressed the April 22 terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam, which claimed 26 lives. The government has sent seven all-party delegations to 33 countries to highlight Pakistan's role in the attack.
"We have come here to tell people of South Africa what really happened in India five weeks ago. There was a brutal attack on India's soul. Twenty-six innocent people on vacation were shot," Sule stated.
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Meanwhile, Congress' Manish Tewari, a member of the Sule-led delegation, highlighted the bipartisan nature of the group as a reflection of India's "unified stance against terrorism."
"We are a very diverse multi-party democracy. So, on this platform you have people representing different political parties, from the Government to the Opposition," Tewari said.
The Chandigarh MP also underscored India's position on cross-border terrorism emanating from the neighbouring country.
"The manner in which this delegation has been structured and the way in which it has been constituted is to convey our national resolve that if terrorism keeps getting perpetrated from across the border...if you have a state on our western border where there is no distinction between the state and the semi-state actors that are its pawns then under those circumstances, (then) it is our national resolve that under no circumstances would that be tolerable.
India then reserves the right to energise the full spectrum of options that are available to it in order to protect and defend its national interest," he added.
Besides Sule and Tewari, the group Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Vikramjeet Singh Sahney, Anurag Thakur, Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu, Anand Sharma, V Muraleedharan, and Syed Akbaruddin.
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