New York [US], May 25 (ANI): Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, leader of an all-party delegation to the US, on Saturday (local time) emphasised that Operation Sindoor marks a new normal in India's approach to combating terrorism. The operation was a response to Pakistan's continued hostilities and terrorist activities.

Tharoor stated that no one in Pakistan can take India for granted and kill Indians without facing consequences.

'There has now got to be a new normal. No one sitting in Pakistan is going to be allowed to believe 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,' he said.

Tharoor said that India conveyed a clear message to Pakistan to stop hostilities, but Pakistan chose to respond with indiscriminate shelling, killing 19 civilians and injuring 59, including Carmelite nuns and Sikhs worshipping in a Gurudwara.

'It was officially conveyed to Pakistan to stop with that act. There is a regular hotline between the two directors general of military operations. The message was conveyed that this was the intent, that it was pointed out that no military targets, no civilian targets, and no governmental targets had been hit, not even by accident. And that the message therefore had been delivered exactly and precisely to the terrorists and their handlers,' he said.

'Nonetheless, Pakistan chose to respond and respond, I'm sorry to say, with indiscriminate shelling across the border on the very first day and night, which sadly killed 19 civilians and injured grievously 59 others including Carmelite nuns in a convent, Sikhs worshipping in a gurudwara. And others who happened to simply be in the line of fire because they lived in districts adjoining the Pakistani border,' he said.

However, aftehr this incident, Tharoor said, India retaliated by hitting 11 Pakistani military targets, including a well-known air base near Pakistan's military headquarters.

'When this happened, India had no choice but to retaliate in kind. The matters got worse the next day as the Pakistanis followed up artillery shelling with a serious invasion of drones and missiles. India's air defences were able to hold them off, but in turn India returned the compliment and on the night of 10th May, India hit 11 Pakistani military targets, including rather well known air base that's just 1.5 kilometres away from military headquarters of Pakistan and Rawalpindi,' he said.

Tharoor said that after this attack by India, Pakistan's Director General of Military Operations called Indian side and asked for cessation of offensives- something that India always supported.

'The following morning, we got a call of our director general of military operations got a call from the Pakistani Director General of Military Operations saying they'd like to stop this and we said we've been saying all along. We didn't want to start anything. We were just sending a message to terrorists. You started, we replied. If you stop, we'll stop,' he said.

Tharoor said that although India bemoans the loss of lives, it also indicates renewed sense of determination.

'And they stopped. There was an 88-hour war. We look back on that with a great deal of frustration because it needn't have happened at all. Lives have been lost, but at the same time we look back on this experience with a steely and renewed sense of determination,' he said.

The all-party delegation to United States, Guyana, Panama, Brazil, and Colombia led by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor comprises of Shambhavi Chaudhary (Lok Janshakti Party), Sarfaraz Ahmed (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha), G M Harish Balayagi (Telugu Desam Party), Shashank Mani Tripathi, Tejaswi Surya, Bhubaneswar K Lata (all from BJP), Mallikarjun Devda (Shiv Sena) and Former Indian Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu.

The delegation was welcomed by Indian Ambassador to the US, Vinay Mohan Kwatra.

In a post on X, Indian Consulate in New York said, 'Carrying forth to the world India's strong message of zero-tolerance against terrorism! All-Party Delegation, led by Dr. Shashi Tharoor welcomed by Amb. Vinay Mohan Kwatra in New York.'

https://x.com/IndiainNewYork/status/1926461805636755895

The delegation will project India's national consensus and firm stance on combating terrorism in all its forms. They will carry India's strong message of zero tolerance against terrorism to the global community during their outreach. (ANI)