Bogotá, May 30 —Senior Congress leader and MP Shashi Tharoor has expressed disappointment with the Colombian government for extending condolences to Pakistan after India’s counter-terror strikes, without acknowledging the victims of the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam.
Speaking at a press briefing in Bogotá, Tharoor said, “We were a little disappointed in the reaction of the Colombian government, which apparently expressed heartfelt condolences on the loss of lives in Pakistan after the Indian strikes, rather than sympathising with the victims of terrorism.”
Tharoor is currently leading an all-party parliamentary delegation to Colombia, aimed at reinforcing India’s stance against terrorism following its retaliatory Operation Sindoor. India launched the operation on May 7 targeting known terror infrastructure across the Line of Control in response to the Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians.
“India suffered a grievous terrorist attack on the 22nd of April,” Tharoor said. “When this happened, the world rose to condemn the terrorist attack, but that was as far as it went. There was no action taken, not even by the country where these people had emerged from, Pakistan. Nobody was arrested, and there was no attempt at prosecution.”
He underscored that India’s response was a matter of self-defence. “There can be no equivalence between those who dispatch terrorists and those who resist them. We are only exercising our right of self-defence,” Tharoor asserted.
The Congress MP presented evidence of Pakistan’s alleged state complicity with terror outfits. “There was a well-publicised funeral of one of the terrorists on the sanctions list. That funeral was attended by uniformed senior military and police personnel from Pakistan. That is the extent of complicity we are seeing between the perpetrators and the state that supports them,” he said, displaying an image of Pakistani army officials at the funeral.
Tharoor also referenced The Resistance Front, a Lashkar-e-Taiba proxy group based in Muridke, Pakistan, which claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam attack.
He reiterated India’s openness to dialogue with Colombia to clarify any “misunderstanding” about the nature and objectives of Operation Sindoor. “We’re very happy to talk to Colombia about the circumstances in detail. We have, as I said, very concrete proof,” he added.
India’s retaliatory strikes between May 7 and 10 were followed by attempted attacks from Pakistan, which were thwarted by Indian defence forces.
