Colombia Earlier Condoled Pak Casualties After India’s Operation Sindoor, Shashi Tharoor Said No Equivalence Between Terrorists And Defenders
New Delhi : Colombia has retracted its statement condoling the deaths in Pakistan during India’s Operation Sindoor, and will issue a fresh one following Congress MP Shashi Tharoor’s strong disapproval. “The Vice Minister very graciously mentioned that they have withdrawn the statement that we had expressed concern about, and that they fully understand our position on the matter which we really value,” Tharoor told news agency ANI alongside Colombia’s Vice Foreign Minister Ms Rosa Yolanda Villavicencio.
“We are very confident that with the explanation that we received today and the detailed information that we now have regarding the real situation, the conflict, and what happened in Kashmir, we can also continue the dialogue and be aware of what is happening,” Villavicencio said. Tharoor repeated his stance on “no equivalence possible between terrorists on the one hand and innocent civilians on the other”.
“We’re very pleased to learn that that statement has been withdrawn as you’ve also mentioned, and we are also very pleased that you, as representatives of the people of Colombia, are determined to stand with us for our sovereignty, for peace in the world, for peace in the subcontinent of India and that you are very, very happy that this kind of dialogue will continue between our peoples and our representatives,” the Congress veteran told ANI.
BJP leader Tejasvi Surya, who is part of the delegation led by Shashi Tharoor, also expressed joy in Colombia retracting its earlier statement. “There is a difference between tourists being killed and terrorists being neutralised. You cannot create an equivalence between the two…The Vice Minister as well as the authorities, saw merit in our arguments and were gracious enough to withdraw the statement that they had made earlier.
The attack was claimed by The Resistance Front – a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) offshoot based in Pakistan. The Shashi Tharoor-led delegation is one of seven tasked by the Indian government with a global outreach mission to explain to 33 countries why India conducted Operation Sindoor. His delegation will also visit the US.