Ahead of a high-level diplomatic tour spanning five countries, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Friday declared that India will not be cowed by acts of terrorism and is determined to share its message of peace, resilience, and unity with the global community.
Tharoor, who is leading an all-party parliamentary delegation to Guyana, Panama, Colombia, Brazil, and the United States, posted a video message on X (formerly Twitter), saying the team is united in projecting India's strong stand against terrorism.
"I'm heading off to five countries leading an all-party delegation to Guyana, Panama, Colombia, Brazil and the United States, and the reason we are going is to speak for the nation, to speak about this horrendous crisis we were subjected to in which our country was attacked by terrorists in the cruellest possible way," Tharoor said in the video.
The initiative, which underscores India's growing commitment to global diplomacy and counterterrorism collaboration, comes in the wake of increasing international concerns about violent extremism. Tharoor emphasized the values India represents and its firm opposition to hatred and violence.
"We need to speak up with clarity and conviction for our country, for our response and to give the world the message that we will not be silenced by terrorism and we don't want the world to look away either," Tharoor added.
"We don't want indifference to triumph over the truth. It's a mission of peace. It's a mission of hope. And it's a mission that will one day remind the world that India stands for all the values we need to preserve in the world today—of peace, of democracy, of freedom, and not of hatred, killing and of terror. Jai Hind."
The delegation, known as Group 5, includes leaders from various political parties such as BJP's Shashank Mani Tripathi, Bhubaneswar Kalita, and Tejasvi Surya, LJP (Ram Vilas)'s Shambhavi Choudhary, TDP's GM Harish Balayogi, Shiv Sena’s Milind Deora, JMM's Sarfaraz Ahmad, and former Indian Ambassador to the U.S., Taranjit Singh Sandhu.
Before their departure, the members were briefed by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, who outlined the mission’s agenda focused on counterterrorism, India’s democratic values, and promoting peace through diplomatic engagement.
Speaking to reporters at Parliament, Tharoor elaborated on the delegation’s goals, "We are meeting government officials, legislators, think tanks, and media and have public interaction. We are really going to try and talk to everybody. The whole idea is that we would like to sensitise public opinion, parliamentary opinion, and legislative opinion in each of these countries. So we will meet whoever wants to meet us."
The all-party outreach marks a significant effort to display India's united front against terrorism, presenting a non-partisan, national consensus to the international community.
