Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Friday lashed out at Pakistan, saying it has nothing that India would want and that New Delhi would be happy to leave Islamabad alone.
“India is a status quo power. It wants nothing that Pakistan has. It is focused on growing its economy, improving its high technology and providing a future to its young people. It is entirely happy to be left alone by Pakistan, and it'll leave Pakistan alone,” Tharoor told Al Arabiya in an interview. Follow LIVE updates.
Tharoor further said Pakistan has been deploying terrorists for 30 years in this wish to capture Kashmir, and added that they have failed and will fail for another 30 years.
“Pakistan claims territory India holds. It is a bigoted power that wishes to take over parts of India on the grounds that people living there happen to share the same religion as Pakistani people,” Tharoor told the news channel.
“They have been deploying terrorists for 30 years in pursuit of their desire to ‘bleed India with a thousand cuts’ and capture Kashmir. They are not going to get it, they have failed for 30 years, they'll fail for another 30,” the Congress MP added.
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{{/usCountry}}Tharoor also said that India is not interested in a war with Pakistan, but will give one to Islamabad if they want. “We are not interested in going to war, but if Pakistan wants war, they will get it,” he said.
He also stressed that India has shown restraint while Pakistan continues to escalate in the ongoing military conflict.
India-Pakistan tensions
Tensions between India and Pakistan have soared significantly after the Indian armed forces conducted precision strikes targeting terror launchpads in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (Pok) on May 7.
The operation was in retaliation for the April 22 attack by Pakistan-linked terrorists in Pahalgam, killing 26 civilians.
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On Saturday morning, India said that it targeted three Pakistani airbases — Nur Khan in Rawalpindi, Murid in Chakwal, and Rafiqui in Jhang — in an overnight attack, hours after Pakistani drones were sighted in 26 locations across many areas in Indian states.
Several cities across Jammu and Kashmir, including Srinagar, Jammu, Rajouri and others woke up to loud explosions on Saturday morning amid shelling by Pakistan.