An all-party parliamentary delegation, led by Tharoor, arrived in Colombia on Thursday to convey India’s strong resolve to fight terrorism in all its forms. Reiterating India’s firm stance against terrorism, Tharoor said the country decided that the Pahalgam terror attack could not go unpunished and launched strikes against terrorist infrastructure under Operation Sindoor.
Addressing the media in Bogota, Tharoor said, “India suffered a grievous terrorist attack on the 22nd of April… When this happened, the world rose to condemn the terrorist attack, but that was as far as it went. There was no action taken, not even by the country where these people had emerged from, Pakistan. Nobody was arrested, and there was no attempt at prosecution. India decided that this kind of outrage could not go unpunished. On May 7, India chose to strike against known terror bases and launch pads.”
Tharoor also showed a picture of Pakistani Army officials attending the funerals of terrorists after India’s strike on their terror bases. Tharoor said Pakistan provides terrorists a safe haven to continue their training. “There (in Pakistan) was a well-publicised funeral of one of the terrorists on the sanctions list. That funeral was attended by uniformed senior military and police personnel from Pakistan. That is the extent of complicity that we are seeing between the terrorists who perpetrate crimes of this nature and those who finance, guide, train, arm, and equip them and do provide them a safe haven to continue their training and other awful deeds,” he said.
Tharoor expressed disappointment with the Colombian government for expressing condolences over the loss of lives in Pakistan, rather than sympathising with the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack. “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,” he said.
India carried out precision strikes on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in the early hours of May 7, following which Pakistan attempted to attack Indian military bases on May 8, 9, and 10. The Indian side responded strongly to the Pakistani actions.
