Sources said Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde, DMK’s Kanimozhi, NCP working president Supriya Sule, Congress MPs Shashi Tharoor & Manish Tewari, JD(U) leader Sanjay Jha and AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi will be part of the delegations to several countries like UAE, Qatar, South Africa, Egypt, United States and Japan to expose Pakistan’s hand in the Pahalgam terror attack
New Delhi, May 16: In a massive diplomatic push, the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided to dispatch delegations comprising of Members of Parliament (MPs) from several political parties to key world capitals to expose Pakistan’s hand in the heinous April 22 Pahalgam terror attack and build wider global support against cross-border terrorism.
Sources say that at least six groups, each comprising five MPs, will be formed who will be presenting New Delhi’s evidence against Islamabad and India’s post-Pahalgam Operation Sindoor to various foreign governments and institutions while travelling to various countries from May 22 to June 1.
Former Union minister Anurag Thakur and BJP MP from Odisha, Aparajita Sarangi, are among the ruling party members to be part of the delegations, the sources said.
Former Union ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad and Rajiv Pratap Rudy, BJP MPs Samik Bhattacharya and Brij Lal are also expected to be part of the delegations.
At least four MPs from the Congress, besides members of other parties, have been tapped by the government about the diplomatic exercise.
Congress MPs included in the government’s list are Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari, Salman Khurshid and Amar Singh, and the party has confirmed it would be a part of the delegations, the sources said.
The TMC’s Sudip Bandyopadhyay, JDU’s Sanjay Jha, BJD’s Sasmit Patra, John Brittas of the CPI(M), Priyanka Chaturvedi of Shiv Sena (UBT), Supriya Sule of NCP (SP), the DMK’s K Kanimozhi, AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi and AAP’s Vikramjit Sawhney are also being tapped to be part of the delegations, the sources said.
While Khurshid, a former external affairs minister, has been asked to lead a delegation of seven MPs to south and southeast Asia, covering countries such as South Korea, Japan and Singapore, Baramati MP Sule is likely to lead a delegation to the Middle East and Africa, including the likes of Oman, Egypt, Kenya and South Africa, the sources said.
Congress leader Tewari is likely to lead a delegation to Europe or the Middle East and has been asked about his availability, the sources said.
Tharoor is likely to lead a delegation to the US, they added.
While Thakur will be part of the delegation that will visit the Middle East and Africa, his colleague Sarangi will be part of the delegation to southeast Asia. Sawhney will also be a part of this delegation.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Chaturvedi will be part of a delegation to Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Kuwait and Bahrain. This delegation will also include the Congress’ Amar Singh.
Sources say the move to send the delegation of MPs comes amid increasing attempts by Pakistan — and notably, remarks from US President Donald Trump — to internationalise the Kashmir issue, which India insists remains a bilateral matter.
The initiative marks the first time the Modi government has deployed elected representatives from across the political spectrum as diplomatic envoys to counter Pakistan’s propaganda on a global stage.
The focus will be two-fold: To brief nations on the devastating Pahalgam attack in which 26 people were killed, and to clarify that India’s ‘Operation Sindoor’ specifically targetted terror infrastructure — not civilians — within Pakistan-occupied regions.
“The aim is to break the narrative being spun by Pakistan and its sympathisers,” said a senior official involved in the planning.
The Ministry of External Affairs, in collaboration with Intelligence and Defence agencies, is also preparing detailed dossiers and talking points.
The MPs are expected to spotlight how Pakistan has, for decades, used terror as a state policy to destabilise India, citing specific Intelligence on terror camps, recruitment networks, and evidence of ISI involvement.
The delegations will also underscore how Pakistan’s retaliatory actions after ‘Operation Sindoor’ only further confirm its active role in sheltering and promoting terror groups. (IANS)