NEW DELHI: In a strong and clear message to global community, Congress MP
Shashi Tharoor on Saturday explained how India gave a firm but measured response after the deadly
Pahalgam terror attack. Speaking at Indian Consulate in New York, Tharoor said India chose to "hit hard and hit smart", targeting only specific terrorist camps in Pakistan, without escalating the situation into a larger conflict.
India launched its counterterror strikes on May 7 in Pakistan and PoK under
Operation Sindoor, as a strong response to Pahalgam massacre.
Tharoor is leading an all-party delegation visiting several countries in Americas to highlight India’s united stand against terrorism. Their first stop in New York was the 9/11 Memorial.
Tharoor said it was an emotional moment, especially in light of the recent attack in Pahalgam.
“It was obviously a very moving moment for us,” he said, “but it was also meant to send a strong message. We are here in a city which is bearing still the scars of that savage terrorist attack in the wake of yet another terrorist attack in our own country.”
He added that the visit is about standing in solidarity and reminding the world that terrorism is a global threat that must be faced together.
“We came both as a reminder that this is a shared problem, but also out of a spirit of solidarity with the victims... It’s a global problem, it’s a scourge and we must all fight it unitedly.”
A precise response, not a war cry
Though he is part of the Opposition, Tharoor supported the central government’s swift action after the Pahalgam attack.
“I don’t work for the government, as you know. I work for an opposition party, but I myself authored an op-ed in one of India’s leading papers, within a couple of days saying that the time had come to hit hard and hit smart and I’m pleased to say that’s exactly what India did.”
He explained that India struck nine known terror bases, including
Lashkar-e-Taiba’s base in Muridke and Jaish-e-Mohammad’s headquarters in Bahawalpur. These groups have long been linked to attacks on India and other countries.
“India sent a clear message that it was not going to take terror lying down... by delivering very precisely, calculated, calibrated strikes... this was not meant to be the opening salvo in a protracted war but just an act of retribution.”
The Pahalgam attack and its intent
Tharoor described the Pahalgam attack as a brutal and deliberate attempt to create communal tension in India.
“It was a bunch of people going around identifying the religions of the people before them and killing them on that basis, which was clearly intended to provoke a backlash in the rest of India, since the victims were overwhelmingly Hindu.”
But he praised the people of Jammu and Kashmir, from political leaders to ordinary citizens, for standing together in unity.
“There was an extraordinary amount of togetherness cutting across religious and other divides that people have tried to provoke. The message is very clear that there was a malign intent... India, sadly, had no reason to doubt where it came from.”
Tharoor also mentioned that a terror group called The Resistance Front (TRF), known to be linked to Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, quickly claimed responsibility for the killings. Despite India presenting evidence to the United Nations in previous years, the group was still not officially condemned in recent UN statements - largely due to opposition from Pakistan and China.
He said, " Within one hour of the atrocity, a group called the Resistance Front had claimed credit. The Resistance Front was known for some years to be a frontal organisation of the proscribed Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is on the US-designated terror list as well as UN sanctions committees. India had gone to the UN sanctions committee with information about the Resistance Front in 2023 and 2024, and now sadly, it acted in 2025...Pakistan chose to follow its usual path of denial."
"Sadly Pakistan chose to follow its usual path of denial, in fact, Pakistan with the help of China succeeded in removing the reference to TRF from the press statement drafted in the Security Council of the UN two days later.”
A united Indian voice to the world
The all-party delegation includes MPs from different political backgrounds -- BJP, Congress, Shiv Sena, TDP, JMM, and LJP - along with former Indian Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu. Their mission is to meet government officials, lawmakers, think tanks, media, and the public across countries.
“Our idea is very much to speak to a cross section of public and political opinion... to enlarge your understanding of our thinking and our concern about what’s going on.”
“We will be in every country, meeting members of the executive, meeting members of the legislature, meeting big tankers and influential foreign policy experts, and at the same time interacting with the media and public opinion.”
In his interaction at the Consulate, Thiruvananthapuram MP also said and referred to PM Modi's "new normal" resolve, "We are determined now that there's got to be a new bottom line to this. We have tried everything, international dossier, complaints...everything has been tried. Pakistan has remained in denial, there has been absolutely no conviction, no serious criminal prosecution, no attempt to dismantle the terror infrastructure in that country, and the persistence of safe havens...you (Pakistan) do this, you are going to get this back and we have demonstrated with this Operation (Operation Sindoor) that we can do it with a degree of precision."
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