Washington, DC [US], June 5 (ANI): Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who is leading the all-party delegation to the US, hailed Operation Sindoor launched by the Indian Armed Forces targeting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan, saying 'it hit hard but hit smart.' He called out Pakistan for targeting civilian areas in response to India's attack on nine bases of terror organisations listed on the United Nations Terrorism Sanctions Committee, the 1267 Committee's list of designated terrorists.

During an interaction session at the National Press Club in the US on Wednesday (local time), Tharoor called the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam 'most unfortunate and even frustrating experience to have inflicted' upon Indians at a time when India is focusing on growth. He also recalled how more tourists travelled to Kashmir than to Aspen, Colorado during last summer.

He said, 'In fact, in Kashmir, it's very striking that the previous summer we've seen more tourism and more tourists coming than Aspen, Colorado gets every year. And in the course of this year, the first few months of this year, there's been a 100 per cent increase on the corresponding months of last year. So Kashmir was booming ordinary, Kashmiris are benefiting from vast numbers of tourists coming in, putting money into their hands and their pockets. It was a lovely time and here's this innocent group of holidays, tourists on a dappled meadow in Kashmir being murdered in cold blood by people coming and asking their religion and shooting them between the eyes.'

'It really was a sickening outrage and the nation rose as one to support whatever the government chose to do and what the government chose to do in the end was what most of us would have wanted. I myself wrote an op ed two days after, which was headlined 'Hit hard hit Smart', and that's exactly what the government did, it hit hard, but it hit smart. It started off making a very clear signal. This is only about retribution for terrorism, that is, hit only the 9 bases of known terror organisations listed on the US State Department's listed on the United Nations Terrorism Sanctions Committee, the 1267 committee's list of designated terrorists, and we only hit those. The government publicly announced and told the Pakistanis that we have not hit any Pakistan government sites. We haven't hit any Pakistan civilian sites. We haven't hit any military sites either. We've just hit terrorist infrastructure. And as far as we're concerned, that's it, we're done,' he added.

He said that Pakistan responded to India's action in an indiscriminate and irresponsible manner by targeting civilian areas and religious sites. He said that India had to respond to Pakistan's action. He stated that the ceasefire of hostilities happened between two nations after the Pakistani Director General of Military operations reached out to the Indian counterpart.

Calling out Pakistan for targeting civilian areas, he said, 'Pakistan chose to retaliate in the most indiscriminate and irresponsible fashion, shelling civilian areas, hitting Sikh gurdwara, hitting the Convent of the Carmelites of Mother Mary in Poonch, killing people in their homes on the streets. 19 people killed, 59 hospitalised with grave injuries. This is obviously something we had to respond to, and every time Pakistan hit, we hit back. But each time if you were to go back and look at the briefings the government gave each morning, the message was very clear. We are hitting them because they're hitting us. If they stop, we'll stop. And after 88 hours, the Pakistani director general of military operations reached out to his Indian counterpart and said, let's call it off, and we called it off.'

'We had no desire to persist with this with this war because, as I said, we have better things to do. It's just a tragic situation that has been needlessly inflicted upon us, and I say to all of you. When we seek understanding for what we've done, it's not in a warlike spirit. We're very conscious, we are the heirs of Mahatma Gandhi and legacy of non-violence, but we will also honour his advice to stay firm, to live without fear, to have the self-respect, never to bow down, never to surrender to this kind of this kind of terrorism, and we are going to continue, if they continue, we will continue. If they will let things alone, we will let things alone because we have, as I said, a very clear focus on our own development,' he added.

He also spoke about his delegation's visit to four nations - Colombo, Brazil, Panama and Guyana, which they commenced by paying tribute to 9/11 terror attack victims in New York. He mentioned that every single person met by the delegation has condemned the terrorist attack in Pahalgam and backed India's right to defend itself against terrorism.

Elaborating on his delegation's visit, he said, 'We have been to four countries already on the way here, though our first stop when we left Delhi was indeed in New York, so we could go and pay tribute at the 9/11 memorial and convey, if you like, our strong solidarity with victims of terrorism everywhere since 9/11 accounted for people from so many different nationalities. We then went on to Guyana, where we met the government legislators. At every place, we met government legislators, think tanks and media. We went on from Guyana to Panama, from Panama to Colombia, from Colombia to Brazil, and here we are now with you.'

'At the end of the memorial the recess, spending a day on Capitol Hill has been extremely rewarding because we were able to meet a number of congressmen and senators, and in fact we've just come from a meeting with half a dozen senators who came up and said hello, all of them associated with either the Foreign Relations Committee or the intelligence Committee. So broadly, what we are seeking to do in every country is to explain our version of events, our experience of the last few weeks, to seek the solidarity and understanding of those we meet and speak to and I'm very pleased to say that so far our batting average is over a 100, in other words, every single person we have met so far has immediately not only condemned resolutely the terrorist attack upon India and expressed their outrage and their sympathy, but they have also explicitly endorsed India's right to defend itself against terrorism, and this kind of understanding has been most welcome,' he added.

He said that the delegation discussed the Pahalgam terrorist attack and held broader conversations in all the nations, as India is not going to be defined by one particular incident. He said that India is a nation which has great ambitions and is focused on technology, pharmaceuticals and other sectors.

He said, 'We've had broader conversations everywhere because India is not going to be defined by one particular incident. We are a country with great ambitions for ourselves, for our people. We are focused on our economic development and our growth. We are focused on technology, on pharmaceuticals, and the whole range of activities that have marked us out as a significant player to be reckoned with in the world, and we're very happy to continue doing all of that. In fact, for us this terrorist episode was a distraction, it was a most unfortunate and even frustrating experience to have this inflicted upon us at a time when we were focusing on growth.'

The delegation led by Tharoor arrived in the US on Wednesday. The delegation includes Shambhavi Chaudhary (Lok Janshakti Party), Sarfaraz Ahmed (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha), G M Harish Balayogi (Telugu Desam Party), Shashank Mani Tripathi, Tejaswi Surya, Bhubaneswar Kalita (all from BJP), Mallikarjun Devda (Shiv Sena), former Indian Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu, and Shiv Sena MP Milind Deora.

India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 as a decisive military response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack by Pakistan-sponsored terrorists, which claimed 26 lives and injured several others.

The Indian Armed Forces targeted terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, resulting in the deaths of over 100 terrorists affiliated with groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Hizbul Mujahideen. The Indian Armed Forces responded effectively to subsequent Pakistani aggression and pounded its airbases. India and Pakistan agreed for a cessation of hostilities on May 10. (ANI)