Shashi Tharoor to Lead All-Party Delegation to US, Europe to Expose Pakistan-Sponsored Terrorism
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, May 16: A day after getting snubbed by Congress for crossing the “Lakshman Rekha,” a former diplomat and MP Shashi Tharoor, who has worked in the United Nations, is among the four Congress leaders named as a member of the government’s all-party delegation set to visit various countries next week to expose Pakistan-sponsored terrorism on the global stage.
According to sources, the delegation to be led by Mr Tharoor, will first travel to the US and then to Europe. According to sources, the government had approached Mr Tharoor to lead the multi-party delegation to the US and Europe as he is the chairman of the External Affairs Standing Committee. A few other Opposition MPs will also be a part of the delegation, official sources said on Friday.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay was one of the Opposition leaders reached out to by the government. However, sources informed that the Bandyopadhyay has expressed his inconvenience to travel because of his health reasons. As of now, no communication from the government has been received on any other TMC MP being part of the all-party delegation. The Samajwadi Party has recommended the name of Rajiv Rai to travel for the delegation meet, as per the sources.
The all-party delegation being sent by the BJP-led central government is part of a major diplomatic offensive to expose Pakistan-sponsored terrorism globally. The move came following the success of “Operation Sindoor,” which was launched in retaliation to the April 22 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam.
The government has reached out to several MPs belonging to different political parties, including the Opposition, seeking their participation in the diplomatic mission. Several parties have already approved sending their representatives for this initiative, sources said.
They said while the exact number of delegations and participants is still unclear, some leaders estimate that more than 30 MPs could take part. The delegations are scheduled to visit various countries over a 10-day period. MPs will be assigned to different regional blocs as designated by the government.
Before their departure, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) will provide the MPs with a detailed briefing for their diplomatic mission.
MPs from parties including the BJP, Congress, TMC, DMK, NCP (SP), JDU, BJD, CPI(M), and others will be part of the delegation, the sources said.
A leader of a party that has been sounded out for the exercise said they were told to be ready to leave by May 22-23 for a period of 10 days and that the MEA would be in touch with them to provide the necessary details, including the itinerary.
At least four Congress MPs—Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari, Salman Khurshid, and Amar Singh—have also been approached by the government, and the party has confirmed its participation, the sources said.
Other MPs being considered include Sanjay Jha (JDU), Sasmit Patra (BJD), Supriya Sule (NCP-SP), K Kanimozhi (DMK), John Brittas (CPI-M), and Asaduddin Owaisi (AIMIM), the sources said. While the government has not officially commented on the delegations, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the Union parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju had discussed the matter with the Congress president.
Mr Tharoor was recently cautioned by the party for allegedly going overboard in appreciating the performances of the Narendra Modi government in various sectors and was particularly going gaga over the strong response by the Indian armed forces to the Pahalgam terror attack.
