Washington, D.C. [US], June 5 (ANI):
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, leading an all-party Indian delegation to the United States, reaffirmed India’s enduring commitment to peace and non-violence during an interaction at the Indian Embassy in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. Emphasizing the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi, Tharoor noted that his statues in capitals around the world serve as powerful reminders of India’s peaceful ethos.
“Symbolically, in every place we’ve gone to, we’ve been paying tribute to the statue of Mahatma Gandhi,” Tharoor said. “It reminds the world that we are a land of peace and non-violence. We don’t desire war, we don’t seek it. But if it is thrust upon us, we will face it with courage. Mahatma Gandhi taught us not to live in fear, and we will not live in fear.”
He stressed that the purpose of the delegation’s visit to Capitol Hill was not to push for a formal Senate resolution, but rather to engage in meaningful dialogue and present India’s stance on critical issues. “In all three sets of conversations, we received very positive feedback from attendees. Not a single sceptical or negative voice. On the contrary, we received total support and solidarity for India in its fight against terrorism and complete understanding of India’s right to self-defence,” he said.
Referencing the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, Tharoor underlined that India’s response is grounded in evidence. “India doesn’t go to war on suppositions or hypotheses. Our intelligence agencies have identified at least four of the five perpetrators. Two are Pakistanis, and the other two are former Indian residents who exfiltrated to Pakistan a decade ago and returned to carry out this act. We have all this information and do not undertake major operations like Operation Sindoor without very serious grounds.”
Addressing the topic of dialogue with Pakistan, Tharoor was unequivocal: “We cannot talk to people who are pointing a gun at our heads. Unless Pakistan dismantles the infrastructure of terrorism—arrests well-known terrorists, freezes their accounts, shuts down training camps—we won’t engage in talks. We’re capable of speaking to them in every language they understand, but we won’t do so until they show they’re worth talking to.”
The delegation also visited the 9/11 Memorial in New York, showing solidarity with victims of terrorism worldwide. “Many nationalities lost lives in the 9/11 attacks. Our visit was a tribute to victims of terror everywhere,” Tharoor noted.
Earlier in the day, the delegation held high-level discussions with members of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) in Washington, D.C. The meeting included HFAC Chairman Brian Mast, Ranking Member Gregory Meeks, Congresswoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove, and Congressman Bill Huizenga. The lawmakers strongly condemned the Pahalgam attack and voiced bipartisan support for India.
Chairman Mast described the meeting as significant and reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to its ally. “This is a bipartisan delegation from the House receiving India. We are proud to welcome our friend. Everyone here strongly condemned the terrorist attacks. There’s no room in this world for such acts.”
The all-party delegation led by Shashi Tharoor includes Shambhavi Chaudhary (Lok Janshakti Party), Sarfaraz Ahmed (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha), G. M. Harish Balayogi (Telugu Desam Party), Shashank Mani Tripathi, Tejaswi Surya, and Bhubaneswar Kalita (all from BJP), Mallikarjun Devda (Shiv Sena), former Indian Ambassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu, and Shiv Sena MP Milind Deora.
The group arrived in the United States following their visit to Brazil as part of India’s diplomatic outreach under Operation Sindoor. Launched on May 7, Operation Sindoor was initiated as a strong military and diplomatic response to the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, which left 26 people dead and several injured. The attack was carried out by Pakistan-backed terrorists.
(ANI)
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