Centre Unleashes Diplomatic War Against Pak Over Terror

New Delhi:The Modi government on Saturday announced the formation of seven teams to launch a full-scale diplomatic offensive against Pakistan on the international stage. Opposition leaders Shashi Tharoor of the Congress, Supriya Sule of the NCP(SP) and DMK’s Kanimozhi will join members of the ruling alliance in leading the three all-party delegations to key partner countries to convey India's message of zero tolerance against terrorism following Operation Sindoor. BJP's Ravi Shankar Prasad and Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda, Shiv Sena’s Shrikant Shinde and JD(U)’s Sanjay Jha will lead the remaining four teams.

The government picked MPs from different parties to present India's “anti-terrorism national consensus" globally, including to the UN Security Council members. Anurag Thakur, Aparajita Sarangi, Manish Tewari, Amar Singh, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Samik Bhattacharya, Brij Lal, Sarfaraz Ahmad, Priyanka Chaturvedi, Vikramjit Sawhney, Sasmit Patra, Salman Khurshid, Anand Sharma, Tejasvi Surya, John Brittas, Ghulam Nabi Azad, and Bhubaneswar Kalita will be part of the seven delegations.

All the Opposition parties have supported and welcomed the delegation. The Congress struck a discordant note, accusing the government of "playing games" with a "mischievous mindset" by announcing names of the heads of delegations from outside the four MPs suggested by the party. The government has retained only Anand Sharma out of the four names given by the Congress

A statement issued by the parliamentary affairs ministry on Saturday said, "The all-party delegations will project India's national consensus and resolute approach to combating terrorism in all forms and manifestations. They will carry forth to the world the country's strong message of zero tolerance against terrorism."

In a post on X, parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju said, "In moments that matter most, Bharat stands united. Seven all-party delegations will soon visit key partner nations, carrying our shared message of zero tolerance for terrorism." Sharing the ministry's statement, he said, "A powerful reflection of national unity above politics, beyond differences."

The government statement said the proposed visits of the seven all-party delegations come in the context of Operation Sindoor and India's continued fight against cross-border terrorism.

Tharoor will lead the mission to the US, Brazil, Colombia, Panama and Guyana. The delegation led by Kanimozhi will travel to Russia, Spain, Greece and Slovenia.

The delegation led by Ravi Shankar Prasad will visit Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Algeria, while Sule's team of MPs will be travelling to Qatar, Ethiopia, South Africa and Egypt.

The delegation led by the JD(U) MP is likely to visit Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia, the country with the largest Muslim population.

Mr Shinde's team of parliamentarians will visit the UAE, Liberia, Congo and Sierra Leone.

Three delegations have nine members, while the rest four have eight members. The government has also included retired ambassadors like Pankaj Saran, Harsh Singla, Jawed Ashraf and Syed Akbaruddin.

Each delegation will meet with senior officials, lawmakers and policy influencers in their respective destinations. Topics of discussion will include the Pahalgam attack and India's response.