A comprehensive national policy beyond party lines

 

In response to the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, the Indian Armed Forces successfully launched ‘Operation Sindoor’ targeting terrorist hideouts in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Not stopping there, it suspended the ‘Indus Water Treaty’ signed with Pakistan in the 1960s. In response to ‘Operation Sindoor’, Pakistan made several simultaneous missile attacks on India.

All these attacks were foiled by India’s anti-missile system. In response, India attacked some Pakistani air bases. India took limited military action to teach a lesson to Pakistan’s rulers and military leaders. After this action, the Modi government decided to send a delegation of MPs from all parties as well as former ambassadors and politicians to various countries. Accordingly, a delegation of 59 people visited 32 countries. The delegation briefed various countries on Pakistan’s direct link to the Pahalgam attack, the terrorist camps destroyed in Operation Sindoor, and the subsequent airstrikes on Pakistani military locations. The delegation recently returned to India.

In order to ensure that India does not fall short in diplomacy along with its strong military policies, the Modi government decided to send an all-party delegation. With the broad vision of national interest, MPs from all parties chose to forget party differences and proudly represented their motherland on the international platform. This incident became a testimony to the mature foreign policy of the Modi government.

MPs like AIMIM’s Owaisi, Congress’s Salman Khurshid, Anand Sharma, Manish Tiwari, Supriya Sule, DMK’s Kanimozhi, who have been strongly critical of the Modi government and the Bharatiya Janata Party leadership on many issues, represented this delegation and presented India’s side to the world very effectively.

Former External Affairs Minister and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor led the delegation. By entrusting the leadership of this delegation to Tharoor, who has a deep knowledge of international politics, the Modi government showed its ‘national interest is paramount’ approach. Some groups tried to play parochial politics around the topic of this delegation. However, after realizing the angry and dissatisfied sentiments of the public about this, these groups did not prolong their ill experiments for long.

In fact, while there was consensus between the ruling and opposition parties on this issue, there was no reason for some parties to assert political influence in the composition of the delegation. Congress had nominated four party members to participate in these delegations. Except for Anand Sharma, the government did not give a place to the other three. Instead, Shashi Tharoor was appointed as the head of the delegation. Congress was displeased by this. Tharoor has vast experience in diplomacy at the international level. Congress should have proposed Tharoor’s name to the government on its own.

However, due to opposition from some within the party to Tharoor’s name, the Congress sent Sharma’s name. The Congress leadership failed to realise that in such a situation, one should not be indulging in shallow party politics. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who also holds the position of Opposition Leader in the Lok Sabha, had demanded that the government should declare how many Indian aircrafts were shot down in ‘Operation Sindoor’. This shows that Rahul Gandhi’s shallowness has not subsided still. Congressmen are also waiting to see when Rahul Gandhi will have the wisdom to realize that by making such a demand, he is defaming his own country on the international stage. It was because of this stance that Congress’s discord became public after Tharoor was assigned the leadership of the delegation.

If the Modi government had included only BJP and National Democratic Alliance (NDA) MPs in the delegation, the Congress’s opposition would have been understandable. When that did not happen, the Congress leadership baselessly and unnecessarily blamed the Modi government on the delegation issue. There was no reason for Congress to be so hesitant about Tharoor’s inclusion. This made a mockery of the Congress party. Tharoor has been openly praising the Modi government on various platforms after ‘Operation Sindoor’. Some Congress leaders also complained about Tharoor over this. It was not expected that on one hand Rahul Gandhi would ask questions like how many Indian aircrafts have fallen down while on the other hand he would show the generosity of supporting the all-party delegation.

As expected, this stance of Rahul Gandhi was well received in Pakistan. Terrorist leaders like Hafiz Saeed showered Rahul Gandhi with praise. India decided to call a ceasefire after receiving a proposal from Pakistan. Rahul tried to politicize that too. The Pakistan government itself has given information about which of its military bases were damaged due to India’s attack. Despite the fact that Pakistan, which claims to have shot down Indian planes, has not been able to produce a single piece of evidence, Rahul Gandhi continues to trumpet and ask about how many Indian planes have been shot down. Due to this, Rahul Baba’s political futility and obsolescence is becoming more and more prominent day by day.

(Article Pre-Published in Times of India Online – 16 June, 2025) 

Keshav Upadhye, Chief Spokesperson