To counter misinformation globally and highlight India’s zero tolerance position on terrorism, the government has dispatched seven all party delegations of Indian MPs to 33 partner nations. Operating under the theme of ‘One Mission, One Message, One Bharat’ their aim is to present India’s response to terrorism after Operation Sindoor.
The seven delegation groups will visit Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Algeria, UK, France, Germany, the EU, Italy, Denmark, Indonesia, Malaysia, Korea, Japan, Singapore, the UAE, Liberia, Congo, Sierra Leone, the USA, Panama, Guyana, Brazil, Colombia, Spain, Greece, Slovenia, Latvia, Russia, Egypt, Qatar, Ethiopia, and South Africa.
Among visiting other European nations, one of the seven delegations is due to reach the UK soon and will be meeting the diaspora on 1 and 3 June at India House in London. The delegation consists of BJP's Ravi Shankar Prasad, Dr Daggubati Purandeswari, Samik Bhattacharya and Ghulam Ali Khatana, Shiv Sena's Priyanka Chaturvedi, Congress' Dr Amar Singh, AIADMK’s M Thambidurai and former Indian Foreign Minister MJ Akbar who will be joined by His Excellency Vikram Doraiswami, High Commissioner of India to the UK and former diplomat and Former Deputy NSA Pankaj Saran.
Progress so far
The delegation led by Shiv Sena MP Srikant Shinde met with the Foreign Minister and Senate President in the Democratic Republic of Congo. DMK lawmaker K Kanimozhi headed a delegation that met with Slovenia's Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs.
JD(U) MP Sanjay Jha led a group that met with South Korea's Foreign Minister, Vice Foreign Minister, and the standing committee Chairman of Defence. Finally, an NCP(SP) delegation led by Supriya Sule met with Qatar's Junior Minister for Foreign Affairs in Doha. The delegation led by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor visited Guyana where he had an "excellent meeting" with the current vice-president Bharat Jagdeo.
The delegation also visited countries like Denmark, Japan, Germany, Panama, the United States, Bahrain, Singapore, Kuwait, Russia, France and UAE.
Diplomacy against terror
India has taken up the responsibility to spread the message of anti-terrorism as the Pahalgam attack affected not just the population of Jammu and Kashmir, but India as a whole. The delegates are working to clarify all queries from global nations. During the visit to South Korea, Sanjay Jha asked South Korea, a non-permanent member of the UN council, to blacklist Pakistan as all the monetary assistance will go to funding terrorism. When South Korea asked about the usage of nuclear weapons, Jha ensured that India would not be initiating nuclear weapons. But in case of attack, India will strike back.
MP Supriya Sule led a delegate group during their visit to Qatar and talked about how terrorism can affect the world economy. A harmonious neighbouring country supporting such a massacre leads to many assumptions regarding the Pakistan government itself.
Shashi Tharoor during the delegate visit to US said “perpetrators of terror should be brought to justice, and we are not going to stop our hunt for those who did this latest atrocity” while talking about the attack. MP Ravishankar Prasad leading delegation group visited France, where they met Paris-based think tanks, discussing India's strong message against terrorism.
Prasad stated that the terrorist attack was a calculated move to interrupt peace for which India's move was in a precise, non-escalated manner. He also mentioned there would be zero tolerance against terrorism and would not differentiate terrorists and their supporters.
Prime Minister hails Operation Sindoor
While the delegation represents a united India globally, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also received a massive welcome in his home state of Gujarat on Monday 26 May, with thousands lining the streets of Ahmedabad and Vadodara for his roadshows.
Crowds waved national flags and displayed posters celebrating India's decisive military action against Pakistan, marking Modi's first visit to Gujarat since the successful Operation Sindoor. The roadshow named 'Sindoor Samman Yathra' was also a tribute to Indian forces, mentioned by Modi during his radio talk 'Mann Ki Baat'. Modi extended greetings to the family of Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, recognising her as one of the key public faces of the government's Operation Sindoor briefings.
Later that evening, thousands in Ahmedabad welcomed the Prime Minister with an enthusiastic display. They waved national flags and held posters celebrating India's decisive military action against Pakistan and showered him with flowers as his roadshow proceeded from the city airport to Indira Bridge.
Addressing the people, Modi said, “I say this can no longer be called a proxy war…You are already at war, and you will receive the response accordingly.”
“We do not seek enmity with anyone. We want to live peacefully. We also want to progress so that we can contribute to the welfare of the world”, he further added.