As part of a major diplomatic offensive, the government will send several all-party delegations to different countries, starting next week, to expose Pakistan-sponsored terrorism on the world forum.
The exercise is aimed at presenting India’s stance against Pakistan on terror comes in the wake of Operation Sindoor — the Indian offensive against terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) following the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed.
Senior leaders, including MPs, of various parties from both the ruling and the opposition, have been sounded out by the government and some parties have also given their go-ahead to the presence of their members for the diplomatic exercise.
Sources said some former ministers would lead the delegations of MPs from different parties to a cluster of countries across the world.
Each delegation is likely to have seven to eight members and may visit four to five countries, they added.
While there was no clarity on the exact number of delegations or their members, some leaders said more than 30 MPs could be included in the outreach exercise.
The delegations will visit different countries for a period of 10 days. The MPs will visit different blocs of countries, as earmarked by the government.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) will brief the MPs before they depart.
Among the parties whose MPs will be part of the delegation are the BJP, Congress, TMC, DMK, NCP (SP), JDU, BJD, Shiv Sena (UBT), CPI(M), and some others, the sources said.
A leader of a party that has been sounded out for the exercise said they were told to be ready to leave by May 22-23 for a period of 10 days and that the MEA would be in touch with them to provide the necessary details, including the itinerary.
Former Union minister Anurag Thakur and BJP MP from Odisha, Aparajita Sarangi, are among the ruling party members to be part of the delegations, the sources said.
Former Union ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad and Rajiv Pratap Rudy, BJP MPs Samik Bhattacharya and Brij Lal are also expected to be part of the delegations.
At least four MPs from the Congress, besides members of other parties, have been tapped by the government about the diplomatic exercise.
Congress MPs included in the government’s list are Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari, Salman Khurshid and Amar Singh, and the party has confirmed it would be a part of the delegations, the sources said.
The TMC’s Sudip Bandyopadhyay, JDU’s Sanjay Jha, BJD’s Sasmit Patra, John Brittas of the CPI(M), Priyanka Chaturvedi of Shiv Sena (UBT), Supriya Sule of NCP (SP), the DMK’s K Kanimozhi, AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi and AAP’s Vikramjit Sawhney are also being tapped to be part of the delegations, the sources said.
While Khurshid, a former external affairs minister, has been asked to lead a delegation of seven MPs to south and southeast Asia, covering countries such as South Korea, Japan and Singapore, Baramati MP Sule is likely to lead a delegation to the Middle East and Africa, including the likes of Oman, Egypt, Kenya and South Africa, the sources said.
Congress leader Tewari is likely to lead a delegation to Europe or the Middle East and has been asked about his availability, the sources said.
Tharoor is likely to lead a delegation to the US, they added.
While Thakur will be part of the delegation that will visit the Middle East and Africa, his colleague Sarangi will be part of the delegation to southeast Asia. Sawhney will also be a part of this delegation.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Chaturvedi will be part of a delegation to Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Kuwait and Bahrain. This delegation will also include the Congress’ Amar Singh.
The sources said former Union minister Ghulam Nabi Azad was likely to be part of one delegation.
While there was no official word on the delegations from the government, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh told PTI that Union minister Kiren Rijiju had spoken to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharje in this regard.
The prime minister and his party have been defaming the Congress continuously despite the opposition party calling for unity and solidarity, Ramesh claimed.
“Now suddenly the prime minister has decided to send multi-party delegations abroad to explain India’s stand on terrorism from Pakistan. The Indian National Congress always takes a position in the supreme national interest and never politicises national security issues like the BJP does. Hence, the INC will definitely be a part of these delegations,” he said in a post on X.
Under Operation Sindoor, India carried out precision strikes on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir early on May 7 in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. (PTI)
