Operation Sindoor outreach: How government chose 25 countries for all-party delegation briefings

NEW DELHI: In a major diplomatic initiative following Operation Sindoor, the central government has deployed seven all-party delegations of Members of Parliament to key global capitals starting May 23, with the objective of presenting a united national stance against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism.

51 political leaders, including parliamentarians and former ministers from various parties, and 8 former ambassadors are set to tour 25 nations, including those that are a member of United Nations Security Council (UNSC), along with other influential nations.

The 10-day outreach mission will be led by senior MPs such as Shashi Tharoor, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Sanjay Kumar Jha, Baijayant Panda, Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, Supriya Sule, and Shrikant Eknath Shinde. The initiative is being coordinated by Parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju, who released the complete list of delegation members and their respective destinations shortly after the programme was announced.

How were the countries selected?

The 25 countries include:

• 15 nations that are a member of UNSC
• 5 countries that will become members of UNSC in coming days
• 5 other influential nations

This was confirmed at the all-party delegations briefing by foreign secretary Vikram Misri on Tuesday.

"We are going to all countries that are members of the UNSC, they are about 15 in number. We are also going to five other countries that will become members of the UNSC in the days to come. A few such countries have been selected, whose voice is heard on international level, these nations are very important. So, representatives are going to over 25 nations," BJP MP Aparajita Sarangi cited Misri saying.

Why these countries were selected?

As Pakistan will remain a UNSC member for next 17 months, it would use the platform to propagate its false narrative. Hence, the government chose these nations to present India's side of the story. The neighbouring nation, at several occasions in the past, has used the platform to make anti-India remarks to push its narrative.

"When meeting will be held at the UNSC, Pakistan, which would be a member of the UNSC for the next 17 months, will definitely try to present its position. It will make anti-India claims. So, it is essential now and our government rightly thought that MPs of different parties should visit these different countries together and present our narrative to the bureaucracy and political representatives there...and we condemn Pakistan's approach of promoting terrorism," Sarangi said.

"This is our responsibility. We want to give a message that India stands united against terrorism. Under the leadership of PM Modi, government of India honours the security of 140 crore people of the country...There is zero tolerance to terrorism," she added.

India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 in retaliation to the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26. The armed forces targeted nine terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir killing nearly 100 terrorists.