The government on Saturday formally announced its decision to dispatch multiple delegations of Members of Parliament from across the political spectrum to major world capitals for a diplomatic outreach to expose Pakistan’s hand in the recent Pahalgam terror attack.
File Photo: IANS
The government on Saturday formally announced its decision to dispatch multiple delegations of Members of Parliament from across the political spectrum to major world capitals for a diplomatic outreach to expose Pakistan’s hand in the recent Pahalgam terror attack.
“In the context of Operation Sindoor and India’s continued fight against cross-border terrorism, seven All-Party Delegations are set to visit key partner countries, including members of the UN Security Council later this month,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said in a post shared on his social media handle X.
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The MPs who have been shortlisted to lead the seven delegations include Congress’ Shashi Tharoor, Bharatiya janata Party’s Ravi Shankar Prasad, and Baijayant Panda, Janata Dal (United)’s Sanjay Kumar Jha, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, Nationalist Congress Party (SP)’s Supriya Sule, and Shiv Sena’s Shrikant Eknath Shinde.
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According to the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, these All-Party Delegations will be visiting important partner nations, including members of the United Nations Security Council, later this month likely from May 22 to June 1.
The countries where the delegations will be dispatched include the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, South Africa, Egypt, the United States, and Japan.
As per media reports other MPs expected to participate in the delegation include BJP’s Anurag Thakur, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, and Tejasvi Surya, Telugu Desam Party’s Sri Krishna Devarayalu, Congress’ Manish Tewari, and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen’s Asaduddin Owaisi.
Meanwhile, there appeared to be some disenchantment in the Congress circles on the name of Shashi Tharoor.
Ironically, the Congress, which had on Friday consented to participate in the multi-party delegations “keeping national interest above all” was learnt to have some disagreement with the government’s proposal on the name of Shashi Tharoor as it had already proposed the names of Anand Sharma, Gaurav Gogoi, Syed Naseer Hussain, and Raja Brar.
“Yesterday morning, the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju spoke with the Congress President and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. The INC was asked to submit names of 4 MPs for the delegations to be sent abroad to explain India’s stance on terrorism from Pakistan,” Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on X.
“By noon yesterday May 16th, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha wrote to the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs giving the following names on behalf of the INC. 1. Shri Anand Sharma, former Union Cabinet Minister 2. Shri Gaurav Gogoi, Deputy Leader, INC LS 3. Dr. Syed Naseer Hussain, MP, RS 4. Shri Raja Brar, MP, LS,” Mr Ramesh further said.
Party sources, however, indicated that the Congress has now conceded to the government’s proposal on the name of Shashi Tharoor.
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