Operation Sindoor Outreach: Shashi Tharoor hails India's response to Pahalgam terror attack, says 'pleased' despite opposition role

Shashi Tharoor, the Indian MP leading one of the seven vital parliamentary delegations under Operation Sindoor outreach, praised India's strikes on terror-related sites in Pakistan for their measured yet strong message and said India "hit hard and smart".

Speaking at the Indian consulate in New York on Saturday (May 24), Tharoor, who is an opposition leader, pointed out that he was not part of India's ruling party but that he was "pleased" with India's response to the Pahalgam terror attack.

Opposition MP, but pleased with Operation Sindoor: Shashi Tharoor

The Congress MP noted, "I don't work for the government, as you know. I work for an opposition party."

"I myself authored an op-ed saying the time has come to hit hard but hit smart. I'm pleased to say that's exactly what India did," he added.

Referring to India's retribution for the horrific April 22 terror attack as "precise and calibrated," he said that Operation Sindoor targeted "nine specific known terrorist bases, headquarters, and launchpads" in Pakistan and PoK.

"Those included those of the Lashkar-e-Taiba in Muridke, Jaish-e-Mohammad in Bahawalpur, responsible amongst other things for the murder of Daniel Pearl..."

Tharoor underscored that with its precision strikes, "India sent a clear message that it was not going to take terror lying down; it would answer."

He noted that the precise and calibrated strikes on "very specific targets" were also a message: "that this was not meant to be the opening salvo in a protracted war but just an act of retribution, that we were prepared to stop with that act".

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Tharoor is leading one of seven all-party delegations as part of the global outreach under Operation Sindoor. His delegation also includes Shambhavi Chaudhary (Lok Janshakti Party), Sarfaraz Ahmed (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha), G M Harish Balayagi (Telugu Desam Party), Shashank Mani Tripathi (Bharatiya Janata Party), Tejaswi Surya (Bharatiya Janata Party), Bhubaneswar K Lata (Bharatiya Janata Party).

The all party delegation will carry India's strong message of zero tolerance against terrorism to five nations – the United States, Guyana, Panama, Brazil, and Colombia.