NEW DELHI: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has said that India can talk to Islamabad if it takes significant action against terror infrastructure that is visible in the country. Tharoor, who is leading an all-party parliamentary delegation to Brazil, said the problem in holding talks with Pakistan is not the language but finding a common vision for decency and peace,
He said that his team successfully conveyed India’s message against terrorism to Latin American countries, including to those who may have had some misunderstandings.
“This is what we keep telling our interlocutors. If Pakistan is as innocent as it claims to be, why does it give safe haven to terrorists? Why are they able to live peacefully, to conduct training camps... and radicalise people, to equip arms and get people to practice their arms and Kalashnikovs,” he said.
“You crack down on this infrastructure of terrorism that is visible everywhere in your country. Then, of course, we can talk. We can talk to them in Hindustani. We can talk to them in Punjabi. We can talk to them in English. There is no problem in finding common ground with Pakistan. The problem is finding a common vision for decency, for peace. We want to be left in peace, to grow and develop. They don’t want to leave us alone. They want to harass us,” he said.
The Tharoor-led delegation will head to Washington from Brazil. On a question on the delegation’s expectations from Washington visit, Tharoor said, “It is going to be a challenging visit. We have a lot of different kinds of audiences. Judging by some of the information floating around, we get some interesting and perhaps challenging questions, which we will be very happy to answer.”
Tharoor in a post on ‘X’ said that the delegation had an intense day of meetings in Brazil that “gave us much to be pleased about affirmations of solidarity and goodwill for India across the board, both from the highest echelons of government and from the legislature”. The team held a highly productive meeting with Senator Nelsinho Trad, President of the India-Brazil Friendship Front.
Whether nations have been recognising India’s stance against terrorism, Tharoor said his delegation has been to four nations — Guyana, Panama, Colombia and Brazil — so far and “this has been very clear in all the countries we’ve been to”.
“I would say in all four countries, we’ve had very clear success, if that’s the word, I don’t like to boast of success. That’s for others to judge. But we’ve got our message through clearly, including to those who may have had some misunderstandings,” he said, referring to Colombia.
Act on terror infra
Shashi Tharoor said if Pakistan is as innocent as it claims to be, why does it give safe haven to terrorists? “You crack down on terror infra visible in your country. Then, of course, we can talk. We can talk to them in Hindustani. We can talk to them in Punjabi. We can talk to them in English...”