Tharoor slams Pak with Hillary Clinton's 'breeding vipers in backyard' jibe

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has sharply criticised Pakistan for supporting terrorism, rejecting its claim of being a victim of terrorism. Tharoor — who is in the US leading an all-party delegation to highlight India’s zero-tolerance stance on terror — made these remarks in response to the position of a Pakistani delegation that is also visiting the US under the leadership of Bilawal Bhutto. 

 

Tharoor recalled Hillary Clinton’s remarks on “breeding vipers” to emphasise the dangers linked with Pakistan’s long-standing association with the terror groups. 

 

Speaking to ANI at the Indian Embassy in Washington, the Congress MP said, “This (Pakistan) delegation is going around saying we are also victims of terrorism, we have lost more lives to terrorism than India has. We turn around and say- Whose fault is that?”

 

Recalling Hillary Clinton’s warning, Tharoor further added, “As Hillary Clinton famously said 10 years ago, ‘you can’t breed vipers in your backyard and expect them to bite only your neighbours…’ That’s why they [Pakistan] are now getting terrorists attacked by the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, but who created the Taliban from which the Tehrik-i-Taliban broke off? We all know the answer to that, so let Pakistan look inside it and let it do some serious interior reflection before it goes around pleading innocence and deniability and everything else.”

 

Tharoor made these remarks while he was leading an all-party delegation after the Indian armed forces launched Operation Sindoor. The all-party delegation led by Tharoor is in the US for its final leg, and the dates of their US visit have coincided with those of the Pakistani delegation, led by Bilawal Bhutto.

 

The Pakistani delegation in the US highlighted Islamabad's stance on what it calls ‘Indian aggression’. Reacting to the claims made by the Bilawal Bhutto-led delegation, Tharoor said, “We are not there with a message about India versus Pakistan. It's about India as a democracy facing terror and as a country that has been focused on its own economic development and growth story. Even Kashmir was a story of prosperity and a booming economy.”

 

Tharoor also dismissed claims that India's actions were based on religious or communal grounds, Hindustan Times reported. He said, "When Operation Sindoor was conducted, of the three briefers, two were women and one was a Muslim woman officer. None of our delegations is without at least one Muslim member". He further added, “This is about terrorism. It's not about religion, it's not about communal issues, it's not about bilateral India.”

 

Terrorist infrastructure was targeted at nine locations in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) on the intervening night of May 6 and May 7 under the code name ‘Operation Sindoor’. The coordinated missile strikes were in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, which killed 26 people, mostly tourists, resulting in the downgrading of diplomatic ties between India and Pakistan and the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty.