India focused on development not interested in war, Pak wants to interrupt: Tharoor

Washington:  India is not interested in war or conflicts but is focused on growth and development, and Pakistan wants to interrupt this through terrorism, was a message, conveyed by the Indian parliamentary delegation, led by Shashi Tharoor, during its visits to countries in the Americas.

This message of development resonated with leaders of all the countries the team visited, with the discussions on terrorism moving on to economic growth and cooperation, he said at a meeting with representatives of think tanks.

“There is this tremendous sense of interest in India, faith that India is heading in the right direction, and appreciation for the fact that even on this terrorism issue, we behave with restraint and responsibility”, Tharoor said. “So, I think you will find that on the whole, we’re on the right track here”.

At the same time, he delivered the incontrovertible message that if Pakistan were to hit India through terrorism hoping to interrupt its development agenda, “They will be hit back. We will hit back very hard.”

He added, “And the fact is that this nuclear bogey being waved around by the Pakistanis makes absolutely no sense because even what happened in Operation Sindoor stopped a long way short of anything approaching or will be considered nuclear”.

Tejasvi Surya said India and the US “are together in this fight against terror because it will impact both our nations”.

Giving the example of India’s Operation Sindoor taking out Jaish-e-Mohamed leader Abdul Rauf Azhar who was responsible for the kidnapping and beheading of US journalist Daniel Pearl, Surya said, “When India hits [terrorists], we are doing the job of the United States as well”.

Shashank Mani Tripathi emphasised the role of democracy in bringing together democratic nations bound by their values and giving an impetus to taking a joint stand against terrorism.

Team Tharoor’s interlocutors were impressed seeing India’s democracy at work, with all the political parties coming together in this mission, he said.

While there was total agreement with India’s zero tolerance for terrorism and understanding of the rationale for Operation Sindoor, sometimes they were faced with the question of why India did not have a dialogue with Pakistan, Tharoor said.

He said that they were able to douse that by explaining India’s position that there can be no dialogue when it is under threats of attacks.

“Sometimes out of a positive mindset, people start talking about coming together holding a dialogue”, he said.

“We’re always willing to talk. We can talk to them [Pakistan] in any language they want, but they prefer the language of force, and this is why we had to reply in that language”, he added.

“Once we explain that there can be no equivalence between terrorists and victims, there can be no equivalence between a state that provides safe haven to terror and a state that has repeatedly been on the receiving end of terrorist attacks, that there can be no equivalence between a state from which attacks occur and a state which is exercising its right of self-defence”, he said, there was “full agreement” with India’s position.

“Absolutely nobody, and I do not exclude any one of the states, has in any way demurred”, he said. “In fact, they all said they ‘fully understand what you’re saying, fully agree with you’”.

Tharoor-led delegation is winding up its journey across the Americas, carrying the message of fighting terrorism to the US, Guyana, Colombia and Panama.

The other members of the team drawn from across India’s political spectrum are Shambhavi of the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), Sarfaraz Ahmad of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, and Milind Murli Deora of the Shiv Sena as well as Bhubaneswar Kalita of the BJP, and GM Harish Balayogi of the Telugu Desam Party, a National Democratic Alliance partner.

During two days of intense diplomacy in the US, they met Vice President JD Vance, members of Congress, the media, and the diaspora.

–IANS