Shashi Tharoor flags false equivalence with Pakistan on US mediation role – ‘this is about India versus terrorism’

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has said having United States as a mediator between India and Pakistan would imply an equivalence which doesn't exist.

"Mediation is not a term that we are particularly willing to entertain. You're implying an equivalence which simply doesn't exist, Tharoor said speaking at an event in Washington DC when asked if it is helpful to have the United States available as a mediator.

Tharoor is part of all-party delegation traveling abroad as part of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government's diplomatic outreach to highlight India's stand on terrorism following‘Operation Sindoor’.

“There is no equivalence between terrorists and their victims. There is no equivalence between a country that provides a safe haven to terrorism and a country that's a flourishing multi-party democracy that's trying to get on with its business,” the Congress MP said.

Tharoor said that Modi government also received calls at high levels from the US government and India appreciated their concern and their interest. At the same time, he said, they must have been making similar calls at the highest levels to the Pakistan side.

'But that's guesswork on my part'

"Because that's the side that needed persuading to stop this process, that may well have been where their messages really had the greatest effect. But that's guesswork on my part. I don't know what they said to the Pakistanis," he said.

The Congress leader reiterated that India hit terror bases in Pakistan during Operation Tharoor while Pakistan hit civilains in retailiation since there are no terror bases in India.

"There are no terror bases in India to hit. There are no terrorist organisations in India listed in the UN or the State Department anywhere else. So, what do you hit? You hit civilians, innocent people. That is the asymmetry of this particular conflict. We have tried not just to be precise and calibrated in our response, but we have tried systematically to signal we are not interested in war with Pakistan. We're not interested in attacking Pakistani civilians, ordinary people. This is about India versus terrorism," he said.

As many as 26 people were killed and several others injured in the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam on 22 April. Indian Armed Forces launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.