Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Friday expressed disappointment over Colombia’s condolence message for casualties in Pakistan after India’s Operation Sindoor, stressing how there can be no equivalence between those who dispatch terrorists and those resisting them.
“We were a little disappointed in the reaction of the Colombian government, which apparently expressed heartfelt condolences on the loss of lives in Pakistan after the Indian strikes, rather than sympathising with the victims of terrorism,” Thaoor said while addressing the media in Colombia.
Tharoor, who is leading a multi-party delegation to five countries, said that India was ready to clear any misunderstanding on this matter if Columbia did not get that Operation Sindoor was launched in a bid to exercise the “right to self-defence”.
“We will say to our friends in Colombia, there can be no equivalence between those who dispatch terrorists and those who resist them. There can be no equivalence between those who attack and those who defend. We are only exercising our right of self-defence, and if there is any misunderstanding here on this core, we are here to dispel any such misunderstanding. We’re very happy to talk to Colombia in some detail about the circumstances,” he added.
Highlighting the importance of clear understanding the India-Pakistan conflict, Tharoor said, “We are here looking for understanding… We have the impression that perhaps the situation was not fully understood when that one statement (Colombia extending condolences for deaths in Pakistan after Indian strikes on terror hotbeds) was made. Understanding is extremely important for us. We are a country which has really been a force for constructive progress in the world”.
“We certainly hope that other governments will tell those who give safe haven and protection to terrorists to stop doing so. That would be very helpful indeed, as well in the Security Council or outside it,” the Congress leader added.
The Tharoor-led delegation arrived in Colombia on Thursday after visiting Panama and Guyana. The delegation will be interacting with the Members of Congress, Ministers and other key interlocutors in think tanks and media during the course of their stay in Bogota.
The delegation, which includes Sarfraz Ahmad (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha), G M Harish Balayogi (Telugu Desam Party), Shashank Mani Tripathi (BJP), Bhubaneswar Kalita (BJP), Milind Deora (Shiv Sena), Tejasvi Surya (BJP), and former ambassador of India to US Taranjit Singh Sandhu, is one of the seven multi-party delegations which has been tasked to visit 33 global capitals to visit the international community in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack.
