NEW DELHI, 17 May: Opposition leaders Shashi Tharoor and Kanimozhi will join members of the ruling alliance, including Ravi Shankar Prasad and Sanjay Jha, in leading seven all-party delegations to key partner countries to convey India’s message of zero tolerance against terrorism following Operation Sindoor.
The other MPs picked by the government to present India’s “national consensus” globally, including to UN Security Council members, in fighting terrorism are NCP-SP’s Supriya Sule, BJP’s Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda and Shiv Sena’s Shrikant Shinde.
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 would carry forth to the world the country’s strong message of zero tolerance against terrorism.”
The government has made a careful selection of leaders who will head the delegations as they come from parties across the political divide and are considered articulate voices.
The leaders – four from the ruling National Democratic Alliance and three from the opposition INDIA bloc – include seasoned lawmakers with long stints in public life.
While the opposition has backed the government in its response to the horrific 22 April Pahalgam terror attack, which claimed 26 lives, former union minister Tharoor has taken the lead in defending Indian strikes on terrorist sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and endorsing the ruling alliance’s tough stand on the Indo-Pak conflict.
He is expected to lead the Indian outreach to the US, the most powerful global voice.
MPs from different parties, including Anurag Thakur, Aparajita Sarangi, Manish Tewari, Asaduddin Owaisi, Amar Singh, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Samik Bhattacharya, Brij Lal, Sarfaraz Ahmad, Priyanka Chaturvedi, Vikramjit Sawhney, Sasmit Patra and Bhubaneswar Kalita, will be part of these delegations.
Former union minister and Congress leader Salman Khurshid, who is not an MP, has been included.
The government also tapped Trinamool Congress MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay to join the exercise but he declined due to health reasons.
The expansive diplomatic drive is aimed at driving home in global capitals India’s stand following the country’s aggressive response to the Pahalgam attack amid Pakistan’s efforts to skirt the issue of terrorism while putting Kashmir at the centre of its discourse. (PTI)
