Washington, DC [US], June 6 (ANI): BJP MP Tejasvi Surya, who is a member of the all-party delegation led by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, said that they had a “fantastic meeting” with US Vice President JD Vance. He said that Vance expressed complete support for the Government of India in its fight against terrorism.
Speaking to ANI, Tejasvi Surya said that Vance was clear that India exercised its right to deter further terrorist attacks from Pahalgam. He stated that Vance said he was a witness to the outrage and anger among the people of India regarding the Pahalgam attack, as he was in India when the terrorist attack took place.
When asked about the delegation’s meeting with Vance, he stated,
“We had a fantastic meeting with the Vice President of the United States of America. Vice President Vance was unequivocal, categorical in his support for India’s stance against terrorism. He was very clear that India exercised its right to deter further terrorist attacks from Pakistan and sympathised with the victims of the terror attack in Pahalgam.”
“He mentioned that he himself was in India when the attack took place, and he also was a witness to the outrage and anger amongst the Indian people to this brutal and cruel terrorist attack. He also expressed complete support to the Government of India in its fight against terror. He was also greatly appreciative of the responsible restraint that India showed even after repeated provocations by Pakistan, and India very sternly dealt with the issue both militarily as well as diplomatically,” he added.
Surya stated that JD Vance expressed enthusiasm regarding trade between India and the US. According to him, Vance, during the meeting, multiple times mentioned the personal bond he shares with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and how India is undergoing a massive transformation towards prosperity, growth, and progress.
Tejasvi Surya said,
“He also went ahead and expressed the enthusiasm that he and the government of the United States share, insofar as trade with India is concerned, partnership with India is concerned, and how he saw firsthand the great vitality and strength in India, and how India and the United States are natural partners in this journey in the coming years. I would say that the meetings that we have had yesterday and today with various senior senators and Congressmen.”
“And today the meeting with the vice president was actually the cherry on the top of the cake. It was a very good meeting which has further strengthened the great relationship between our two great nations. The vice president also, multiple times through the conversation, reminded all of us of the personal bond that he shares with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and how under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership, India is undergoing a massive transformation towards prosperity, growth, and progress,” he added.
JD Vance and his family were on a four-day official visit to India in April when the attack took place in Pahalgam. During the visit, PM Modi hosted Vance and his family at his Lok Kalyan Marg residence in New Delhi. Vance’s three children—Vivek, Ewan, and Mirabel Rose—shared several playful moments with the Prime Minister.
The all-party delegation, led by Shashi Tharoor, held a meeting with JD Vance in Washington, DC, on Thursday (local time). The Indian Embassy in the US stated that the discussion between the two sides focused on strengthening the India-US partnership, including cooperation in counter-terrorism.
“The All Party Parliamentary Delegation led by Dr. @ShashiTharoor called on Vice President JD Vance @VP this morning. The conversation focused on strengthening the India-US partnership, including cooperation in the counter-terrorism domain,” the Indian Embassy in the US posted on X.
Shashi Tharoor shared the meeting details in a post on X. He noted that deliberations took place on various important issues, including counter-terrorism and enhancing technological cooperation between the two countries.
In a post on X, he wrote,
“Excellent meeting with Vice President @JDVance today in Washington D.C. with our delegation. We had comprehensive discussions covering a wide array of critical issues, from counter-terrorism efforts to enhancing technological cooperation. A truly constructive & productive exchange for strengthening India-US strategic partnership, with a great meeting of minds. #IndiaUS #Diplomacy #StrategicPartnership.”
The all-party delegation, led by Tharoor, includes Shambhavi Chaudhary (Lok Janshakti Party), Sarfaraz Ahmed (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha), GM Harish Balayogi (Telugu Desam Party), Shashank Mani Tripathi, Tejasvi Surya (BJP), and Bhubaneswar Kalita (all from the BJP), Mallikarjun Devda (Shiv Sena), Shiv Sena MP Milind Deora, and former Indian Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu.
According to a statement by the Indian Embassy in the US on June 4, the all-party delegation met the leadership of the House Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans in the 119th Congress, including the co-chairs Rep. Ro Khanna and Rep. Rich McCormick and the vice co-chairs Rep. Andy Barr and Rep. Marc Veasey.
The delegation also met the leadership of the House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) in a special high-power meeting hosted by Committee Chairman Representative Brian Mast and Ranking Member Representative Gregory Meeks.
Also in attendance were HFAC’s South and Central Asia Subcommittee Chairman Representative Bill Huizenga, Ranking Member Representative Sydney Kamlager-Dove, and HFAC’s East Asia and Pacific Subcommittee Chairperson Representative Young Kim and Ranking Member Representative Ami Bera.
According to the statement, members of the delegation also met with Representative Lisa McClain, Chairwoman of the House Republican Conference for the 119th Congress—the highest-ranking woman in Congress—and the delegation also interacted with the members of the Indian diaspora.
The purpose of the visit is to brief key US stakeholders on Operation Sindoor, India’s diplomatic effort launched to combat terrorism and disinformation following the recent terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, which claimed the lives of 26 people and injured several others.
(ANI)
“Vance understood our points,” Tharoor’s delegation clears India’s stance on Trump’s mediation claim
Washington DC [US], June 6 (ANI): All-Party Delegation Leader and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said that the delegation, during their meeting with US Vice President JD Vance, cleared the air around US President Donald Trump’s claim of mediating between the India-Pakistan crisis.
Tharoor, while talking to ANI, said that the delegation’s meeting with Vance was a good one and that he understood their position.
“The meeting with Vice President Vance was outstanding, very good, very clear. I think we made our position amply clear on this question of mediation, and Vice President Vance fully understood our points,” he said.
Tharoor said that mediation implies equivalence between the two parties. And there can be no equivalence between Pakistan, which is an incubator of terrorism, and India, a victim of terror.
“The main point is that mediation implies an equivalence between two parties, and there can be no equivalence between terrorists and their victims, between those who are offering safe havens to terrorists and, on the other one on our hand, multi-party democracy. On the one hand, the place from which attacks are coming, another country which is in the process of defending itself, exercising its right to survive, there can be no equivalence,” he said.
Tharoor said that the message of India’s stance on the mediation claim was understood by Vance and also by the other levels of the US administration.
“And therefore I think that we suggested that that would not be an appropriate way of looking at it, and the message has been very clearly understood by the Vice President and certainly at other levels of the system, I think the message has been clearly understood,” he said.
US President Donald Trump on May 31 falsely claimed credit for brokering a cessation of hostilities between India and Pakistan, asserting that his administration’s trade negotiations potentially averted a nuclear war between the two nations.
“I think the deal I’m most proud of is the fact that we’re dealing with India, we’re dealing with Pakistan, and we were able to stop potentially a nuclear war through trade as opposed to bullets. You know, normally they do it through bullets. We do it through trade. So I’m very proud of that. Nobody talks about it. But we had a very nasty potential war going on between Pakistan and India. And now, if you look, they’re doing fine,” the US President said.
(ANI)
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