Senior Congress leader and former union minister Anand Sharma welcomed the Centre's move to send all-party MPs delegations to several countries as part of a diplomatic effort to convey India's position on cross-border terrorism from Pakistan after Operation Sindoor.
Anand Sharma is the second Congress leader, after Shashi Tharoor, to praise the initiative even as the grand old party criticised it as a “diversionary tactic” despite supporting the NDA government in the immediate aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22 and four-day military action under Operation Sindoor.
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Speaking to The Indian Express, Anand Sharma termed the diplomatic outreach an “important initiative” necessary to “sensitise global public opinion” about the role of the Pakistani military establishment in promoting terrorism. Anand Sharma is part of the MPs team that will travel to South Africa, Egypt, Qatar, and Ethiopia in the coming days.
Recalling his party's support to the government's actions after the attack mainly targeting tourists in Jammu and Kashmir, Sharma told the publication, “India has bled. We have paid a heavy price. We have been restrained in our responses. Very few countries could have been… It was time that there was retaliation, but it was measured, it was calibrated, which was made clear by India.”
{{/usCountry}}Recalling his party's support to the government's actions after the attack mainly targeting tourists in Jammu and Kashmir, Sharma told the publication, “India has bled. We have paid a heavy price. We have been restrained in our responses. Very few countries could have been… It was time that there was retaliation, but it was measured, it was calibrated, which was made clear by India.”
{{/usCountry}}The senior Congress leader noted how former prime minister Manmohan Singh's UPA government launched a similar diplomatic effort after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. He also recalled cross-party efforts by former prime ministers, Rajiv Gandhi and PV Narasimha Rao, for international efforts against terrorism.
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The former union minister is the only individual to be picked by the NDA government from a list of four nominees proposed by the Congress. Gaurav Gogoi, Syed Naseer Hussain, and Amrinder Singh Raja Warring are other leaders not picked by the Centre.
Four other Congress leaders – Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari, Amar Singh and Salman Khurshid – who were not part of the list forwarded by the Congress, have been included in the delegations by the government.
What did Shashi Tharoor say?
Before Sharma, Shashi Tharoor praised the initiative and said it was an “honour” to lead one of the delegations. “I see no politics in it. According to me, politics becomes important when we have a nation. We are all Indians. When the nation is in crisis and the central government seeks the help of a citizen, what other answer would you give,” the Congress MP had said. He is leading the delegation that will travel to the US, Panama, Guyana, Colombia and Brazil.