Terrorism Won’t Silence Us: Tharoor
New Delhi:All-party delegations led by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and the other by BJP MP Baijyant Panda left on Saturday for their overseas visit to “carry India’s strong message of zero tolerance against terrorism in all its forms”, New Delhi said on Saturday. With that, six out of the seven delegations have left on their visits to different countries. The last delegation will leave on Sunday.
Before the Mr Tharoor-led delegation left for a visit to Guyana, Colombia, Panama, Brazil and the United States, the Congress Thiruvananthapuram MP said, “We need to speak up for our country, for our response and to give the world the message that we will not be silenced by terrorism. We don’t want the world to look away either. We don’t want indifference to triumph over the truth. It’s a mission of peace, a mission of hope.”
Trinamul Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee, who is part of the delegation led by JD(U) MP Sanjay Kumar Jha that began its visit earlier this week from Japan was quoted by reports as saying in a “fiery speech” in Tokyo that if terrorism is a “rabid dog”, then Pakistan is its “vile handler” and that the world must unite to tackle it. The TMC MP added that “we are here to convey the truth that India refuses to bow down”.
Apart from earlier meeting the Japanese foreign minister and other Japanese dignitaries, as well as the Japanese media, the delegation also met the Indian diaspora. After Japan, the delegation will also visit South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia.
Meanwhile, the delegation led by Mr Panda reached Bahrain on the first leg of their visit. This delegation will later also travel to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Algeria. The Indian embassy in Bahrain said that “India’s unwavering stand against cross-border terrorism will be highlighted in all the engagements”. The delegation was received at the airport by Indian ambassador Vinod K. Jacob.
NCP-SP leader Supriya Sule, who will lead the delegation to Qatar, Egypt, Ethiopia and South Africa, said she will convey to world leaders India’s firm resolve to fight against terrorism and its supporters and that there was no room for politics on the issue of Operation Sindoor that was launched on May 7 against Pakistan-based terror outfits.
The delegation led by BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad will visit the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the EU, Italy and Denmark.
The all-party delegation led by DMK leader Kanimozhi that visited Russia on the first leg of its visit and held talks with senior Russian parliamentarians, ministers and experts “underlined the imperative of collective action against terrorism, including the need for credible international mechanisms to deny safe havens, financing and political justification to terrorist entities”.
The Indian embassy in Moscow said the “Indian side reiterated its zero-tolerance policy towards terrorism and stressed that India will not tolerate any nuclear blackmail”.
“Both sides agreed on the need to strengthen counter-terrorism measures and eliminate terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. Both sides reaffirmed the historic and time-tested nature of the India-Russia relationship, underpinned by mutual trust and respect. The discussions covered a wide range of issues, including global security architecture, emerging geopolitical alignments and multilateral cooperation,” it added. This delegation will visit Latvia, Slovenia, Spain and Greece as well.
