‘No equivalence between those who dispatch terrorists and those who resist': Tharoor expresses disappointment over Colombia's reaction to Op Sindoor
Amid the global outreach on Operation Sindoor to rally support for India's war against terror, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor Friday expressed disappointment over the Colombian government's 'heartfelt condolences over the loss of lives in Pakistan, rather than sympathising with the victims of terror'.
'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. We will say to our friends in Colombia, there can be no equivalance between those who dispatch terrorists and those who resist them,' Tharoor, who is leading an all-party delegation, said in Bogotá.
'There can be no equivalence between those who attack and those who defend. We're 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.
Shashi Tharoor-led delegation includes Shambhavi Chaudhary (Lok Janshakti Party), Sarfaraz Ahmed (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha), G M Harish Balayagi (Telugu Desam Party), Shashank Mani Tripathi, Tejaswi Surya, Bhubaneswar Kalita (BJP), Mallikarjun Devda (Shiv Sena), former Indian Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, and Shiv Sena MP Milind Deora.
During the conference, when asked about Pakistan's defence equipment, he said: 'We are quite conscious that China supplies 81 per cent of all Pakistani defence equipment. Defence is a polite word, Pakistani military equipment. Much of it is not for defence but for attack. Every sovereign country has the right to do that.'
'The single largest project in China's Belt and Road Initiative is in Pakistan, the so-called China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which is a highway corridor connecting China to a port in southwestern Pakistan that permits goods to be transported relatively quickly and economically to western China. We are aware of that, and our concern is not with the rights of the Pakistani people to pursue development. Of course, they may do so, including with the partnership with China,' he added further.
Tharoor also asserted that the fight is only against the perpetration of terror against India.
Over the last few days, the Congress MP has been receiving flak from his own party after he praised India's response to terrorism in the past few years.
Tharoor said that the first time India breached the Line of Control to attack a terror base in Pakistan was during the Uri surgical strikes. The Indian Army went one step beyond the LoC during Operation Sindoor, hitting terror bases, training centres, terror headquarters in nine locations.
The remarks drew considerable flak from his own party leader Udit Raj, who accused Tharoor of being 'dishonest' with his own party. Posting on X, Raj said, 'I could prevail upon PM Modi to declare you as super spokesperson of BJP, even declaring as foreign minister before landing in India . How could you denigrate the golden history of Congress by saying that before PM Modi , India never crossed LOC and International border.'
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