Restraint in our reaction praised: Tharoor; flagged Pakistan military-terrorist nexus: Prasad

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor returned with his multi-party delegation Tuesday and said that many people respected the restraint shown by India in its reaction while BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said that his team conveyed the message that India's response was aimed at terror bases, and flowed from the conviction that an Indian life mattered as much as an American or European but the 'military-terrorist nexus in Pakistan' was the main hurdle in peace.
Tharoor's delegation went to the US, Panama, Guyana, Brazil and Colombia. The team, led by Prasad, travelled to the UK, France, Germany, EU, Italy and Denmark, wrapping it up on June 7.
After landing at the Delhi airport, Tharoor said, 'We were all very pleased with the way all the five countries we went to received us. We thought we had good results everywhere. We had very high-quality meetings — Presidents, PMs, Vice Presidents, very senior interlocutors.'
'In fact, many of the people we spoke to specifically expressed respect for the restraint we have shown in our reaction,' he said.
'Not only did everyone understand and accept our point of view, but even the responses from American lawmakers were strongly in our favour… Pakistan's position is extremely weak. They claim they haven't done anything and that India attacked them without provocation, but no one was willing to buy that argument,' he said.
At a press conference in New Delhi, Prasad said, 'We said that each Indian government wanted good relations with Pakistan. Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi himself called them for his swearing-in (ceremony) and also visited Pakistan later. But we told them about the military-terrorist nexus in Pakistan. The terrorists do the dirty work of their military. That is why peace has never been possible.'
'We discussed the historical links between Pakistan and India. But today we (India) are the fourth-largest economy, and they (Pakistan) still go around with a begging bowl. We said we never started even one of the four wars we fought with Pakistan, and there were agreements after each,' Prasad said.
'We told them about the Mumbai terror attack and the Parliament attack, and also London, New York, Germany and France attacks, adding that each had some or the other connection with Pakistan, with the terrorists either having their origins in Pakistan or having undergone their training there,' he said.
The delegation, he said, pointed out that while the last IMF loan India took was in 1991, Pakistan had taken 25 IMF loans till date that have been diverted to purchase arms.
'We said that the Pahalgam terror attack happened on April 22, while General Munir's speech like a Mullah general and Jihadi general had happened on April 15,' Prasad said.
He said that India had hit only terror bases at night when it responded during Operation Sindoor, and informed Pakistan the next day that it had not damaged any building apart from terror bases, and would respond if Pakistan tried to strike back.
On the Indus Water Treaty that used to send 80% of the water to Pakistan — something that Indian farmers can get — Prasad said that the Preamble to the treaty said it was to promote friendship and goodwill. 'That does not exist today. We have kept the treaty in abeyance,' he said.
The delegation found Germany's approach to be very positive and supportive towards India. 'We asked what about the human rights of the victims of terror? They said they agreed with us,' Prasad said and underlined that countries were impressed by India's economic growth story and digital strides.
'We said Pakistan is the biggest factory of terrorism and showed connections of all terrorists with Pakistan,' Prasad said, adding, 'Terrorists should know they are not safe even in their homes.' He said that delegation member and Congress leader Amar Singh spoke about 'narco-terrorism' emanating from Pakistan in his discussions in the countries.
With PTI inputs

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