India, Pak delegations in US; Tharoor confident of strong diplomatic impact

An all-party delegation from India, highlighting the nation’s stance on zero tolerance for terror and ‘Operation Sindoor’, will now be heading to the United States for its last leg of the visit. Around the same time, a delegation led by Pakistan’s Bilawal Bhutto is also expected to be in the US.

 

The all-party delegation led by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, however, is confident of pushing across India’s message on terrorism. Speaking to ANI, Tharoor said, “The US media is a difficult space, but those who are against terrorism and deeply care about South East Asia and are against terrorism will listen to India.”

 

 

He further said, “In Washington, we’ll have the interesting phenomenon of the Pakistani delegation in America, and almost exactly the same days... Tomorrow almost they will be in Washington, while we are in Washington on the same date. So there’s going to be perhaps an increase in interest because there are two duelling delegations in the same city.”

 

 

Tharoor outlines diplomatic strategy

 

Tharoor made these remarks as India’s outreach effort post Operation Sindoor enters its last leg. He said even though India’s agenda might not be a top priority for the US media, India will still be able to get its message across. The all-party delegation is set to meet with influential government officials and committees that formulate public opinion as part of their scheduled visit.

 

Commenting on a similar outreach effort by Pakistan, Tharoor said, “It’s no accident that the Pakistanis have also sent a delegation abroad, but they’re not going to as many countries as the Indian delegations are. They’re focusing on what they consider a few key capitals, namely, Washington, Brussels. London. That seems to be the thrust of the Pakistani effort. We have gone to all those capitals and more.”

 

India denies US role in ceasefire

 

The Congress MP also denied the role of US President Donald Trump in mediating a ceasefire deal between India and Pakistan after tensions escalated between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, following Operation Sindoor. The Indian armed forces launched coordinated missile strikes on terror infrastructure at nine locations in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, which claimed the lives of 26 people, mostly tourists.

 

After Operation Sindoor was carried out on the intervening night of May 6 and May 7, Pakistan resorted to artillery firing in border areas across the Line of Control (LoC), leading to the deaths of civilians. The retaliatory action by Pakistan resulted in cross-border drone and military firing for four days before the two neighbours reached an “understanding to stop military actions” on May 10. While Trump has been claiming credit for bringing the two nations to an understanding, India has constantly denied the US role in the mediation.