Govt to send all-party delegations abroad to expose Pakistan on terrorism

The government will send several all-party delegations to different countries, starting next week, to expose Pakistan-sponsored terrorism on the world forum as part of a major diplomatic offensive post Operation Sindoor in the aftermath of the terror attack in Pahalgam.

MPs of various political parties, including the opposition, have been sounded out by the government and some parties have also given their go-ahead to the presence of their members for the diplomatic exercise.

While there was no clarity on the exact number of delegations or their members, some leaders said there could be more than 30 MPs.

The delegations will visit different countries for a period of 10 days. The MPs will visit different blocs of countries, as earmarked by the government.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) will brief the MPs before they depart for their diplomatic mission.

Among the parties whose MPs will be part of the delegation are the BJP, Congress, TMC, DMK, NCP(SP), JDU, BJD, CPI(M), and some others, sources said.

A leader of a party that has been sounded out for the exercise said they were told to be ready to leave by May 22-23 for a period of 10 days and that the MEA would be in touch with them to provide the necessary details, including the itinerary.

The sources said former Union minister Anurag Thakur and BJP MP from Odisha, Aparajita Sarangi, would be part of the delegations, besides four from the Congress and some from other parties.

Congress MPs included in the government's list are Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari, Salman Khurshid and Amar Singh, and the party has confirmed it would be a part of the delegations, the sources said.

The TMC's Sudip Banyopadhyay, JDU's Sanjay Jha, BJD's Sasmit Patra, Supriya Sule of NCP (SP), DMK's K Kanimozhi, John Brittas of CPI(M) and Asaduddin Owaisi of AIMIM have also be sounded to be part of the delegations, the sources said.

While there was no official word on the delegations from the government, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh told PTI that Union minister Kiren Rijiju had spoken to the Congress president in this regard.

"The prime minister has refused to chair two all-party meetings on the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor. The prime minister has not agreed to call a special session of Parliament that the Indian National Congress has been demanding to demonstrate a collective will and reiterate the resolution passed unanimously by Parliament on February 22, 1994," Ramesh said in a post on X.

The prime minister and his party have been defaming the Congress continuously despite the opposition party calling for unity and solidarity, Ramesh claimed.

"Now suddenly the prime minister has decided to send multi-party delegations abroad to explain India's stand on terrorism from Pakistan. The Indian National Congress always takes a position in the supreme national interest and never politicises national security issues like the BJP does. Hence, the INC will definitely be a part of these delegations," he said.

Under Operation Sindoor, India carried out precision strikes on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir early on May 7 in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.