CHANDIGARH: Three of the four Congress MPs named by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), but excluded from the party's official list for Operation Sindoor’s global outreach, have confirmed their participation in the government-led tour.
Among them, Amar Singh from Fatehgarh Sahib and Manish Tewari from Chandigarh have confirmed their participation. Amar Singh is the latest to confirm, saying he would be part of a delegation visiting European countries.
"What Pakistan has been doing in Punjab, who knows better than the people of the state and us," he told this newspaper, adding that the MEA is scheduled to brief the MPs on May 23.
Manish Tewari confirmed his participation earlier, posting on X: "A song from the movie Akraman (1975) sung by Kishore Kumar for Rajesh Khanna shows us how to answer the call of the nation – ‘Dekho veer jawaanon apne khoon pe yeh ilzaam na aaye, Maa na kahe ke mere bete waqt pada to kaam na aaye.’”
Former external affairs minister Salman Khurshid is the only Congress MP on the Union government’s list for Operation Sindoor’s global outreach who has yet to confirm his participation, sources said. The government had named Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari, Amar Singh, and Khurshid as part of the multi-party delegation. Tharoor, Tewari, and Singh have already confirmed their participation.
The seven delegations, comprising 59 leaders, will travel abroad between May 24 and June 3 to brief foreign governments and institutions on India’s response to cross-border terrorism under Operation Sindoor.
The Congress had proposed the names of Anand Sharma, Gaurav Gogoi, Nasir Hussain, and Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring for the outreach, but only Sharma was included in the final list approved by the Ministry of External Affairs.
Reacting to the development, Warring accused the BJP-led government of trying to “steal credit” for the armed forces’ achievements. He also criticised External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s disclosure that Pakistan was forewarned before the strikes, saying it allowed top terrorists Hafiz Saeed and Masood Azhar to escape.
Warring said that although the defence forces struck the targets with precision and destroyed the terrorists' headquarters, both Saeed and Azhar had already moved out. "Isn’t this a betrayal of the country?” he asked.
He questioned the rationale behind alerting Pakistan, stating that once warned, the terrorists fled to safety. “We salute the bravery and precision of our armed forces, but had the terrorists not been tipped off, they could have been eliminated, delivering a decisive blow to terror networks,” he said.
Warring further alleged that the BJP was wrongfully claiming credit for the operation. “It is shameful that the BJP is trying to claim what was achieved by our forces. Instead of celebrating, they should be held accountable for compromising national security,” he added.
