CONGRESSMPShashiTharoorhassaid thatpost-Pahalgamattacks,thereisnow going to be a new norm that no one sitting in Pakistan is going to be allowed to believe that they can just walk across the border and kill Indian citizens with impunity, as he asserted that there will be a “price to pay.” Tharoor is leading a delegation of Indian parliamentarians to Guyana, Panama, Colombia, Brazil, and the US, conveying India’s resolve against terrorismandemphasisingPakistan’s links to terrorism. The multi-party delegations to different countries will underlinethattherecentconflictwithPakistan was triggered by the Pahalgam terror attack and not Operation Sindoor, as alleged by Islamabad.

 

The retaliatory Operation Sindoor launched by India targeted terror infrastructureinPakistanandPakistan-occupied Kashmir. In an interaction hosted by theConsulate General ofIndia inNewYorkwithaselect group of prominent members of the Indian-American community and individuals from leading media and think tanks on Saturday, Tharoor said that India’smessagetoPakistanhas been clear: “We didn’t want to start anything”. “Wewerejustsendingamessage to terrorists. You started, wereplied.Ifyou stop,westop. And they stopped.

 

There was an 88-hour war. We look back onthatwithagreatdealoffrustration because it needn’thave happened at all. Lives have been lost.But at the same time, welookbackonthisexperience withasteelyandrenewedsense of determination. “There is now got to be a new norm.NoonesittinginPakistan isgoingtobeallowedtobelieve that they can just walk across the border and kill our citizens with impunity. There will be a price to pay and that price has been going up systematically,” Tharoor said. He said that India has focusedonaverydifferentnarrative from some of its neighbours. “Our focus for some years now has been on being the world’s fastest growing free markets democracy, attemptingtofocusonthedevelopment of our economy, our high emphasis on technology and technological growth and pulling large numbers of peoplefrombelowthepovertyline” not just into the 21st Century, but into the world and the opportunities the 21st-century offers.

 

Tharoorspokeindetailabout the horrific April 22 Pahalgam attack in Jammu and Kashmir inwhich26civilianswerekilled, including one Nepalese citizen, for which The Resistance Front took responsibility and then retracted. He highlighted the dastardlymannerinwhichthetourists were singled out and targeted basedontheirreligion,andthe retaliatory measures taken by India through Operation Sindoor, which targeted terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir through precision strikes. He also listed the various terror attacks - from the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks to attacks in Uri and Pulwama - carriedoutinIndiabyPakistani terror outfits.