Shashi Tharoor referred to Pak Army Chief General Asim Munir's Hindu-Muslim remark
India's signalling to Pakistan and the international community during the government briefing to share details about Operation Sindoor was very well done, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has said. Mr Tharoor, a four-time MP from Kerala's Thiruvanathapuram, told NDTV that the decision to field Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and two women officers sent a strong message to the world.
"I must say that our signalling today to Pakistan and the international community was very well done. The briefing this morning, for example, was conducted by the Foreign Secretary (Vikram Misri), a Kashmiri Pandit. He was flanked by two women officers -- which was a wonderful gesture -- one of whom was a Muslim, to demonstrate this is not a Hindu-Muslim issue, as some Pakistanis are trying to portray," he said.
India yesterday targeted nine locations in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack that left 24 tourists and a Kashmiri pony ride operator dead.
The briefing was done by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, Colonel Sophiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh. While Mr Misri established India's reasons to carry out the airstrikes, underlining Pakistan's repeated failure to curb terror emanating from its soil, Colonel Qureshi and Wing Commander Singh shared details of the surgical attacks carried out yesterday.
Mr Tharoor said the briefing was a strong response to Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Munir. "General Asim Munir talks about the impossibility of Hindus and Muslims living together. We are demonstrating we are not only united, we are India against terror. We are India against the Pakistanis' evil machinations. We are not divided within ourselves. What a wonderful message to send. I am proud of that," he said.
The Congress MP welcomed India's counterstrike and said that his party, the Congress, and every Indian stand behind the forces. To a question on how the world responded to India's strikes, he said, "Three countries, France, Russia and Israel, have explicitly expressed some understanding for India's right to defend itself against terrorism. Other countries have been muted in their language. Everyone has called for de-escalation, restraint and so on, which is fine, because we are not interested in escalation."
"The Chinese, who are Pakistan's quote-unquote all-weather friend, and who might have been expected to back Pakistan more directly, have actually said that both India and Pakistan are our neighbours and we don't want to see fighting and conflict between them. We want to recommend diplomacy and negotiation and calm and so on, which is again constructive language. So if I were to draw a conclusion from all of this, it would be that I believe the world as a whole does not want to see war and will be counselling restraint to Pakistan," he emphasised.
Mr Tharoor said the airstrikes were carried out after 1 am, when there would be no civilians on the streets, to avoid collateral damage, and the targets were terror bases. "We also made it a point to very carefully ensure that we did not strike Pakistani military facilities or government facilities, not because we believe the military has nothing to do (with the Pahalgam terror attack). On the contrary, we believe the military was very, very much behind training, guiding, equipping, financing and directing these terrorists. But, nonetheless, to show that we are not interested in seeing this or portraying this as the opening salvo in a protracted war, we are just trying to do what is necessary to avenge the death of 26 innocent civilians," he said.
The ball is now in Pakistan's court and if it decides to take an escalatory step, India is ready and will respond, Mr Tharoor said.
