Congress MP Shashi Tharoor delivered a subtle yet witty response to a US reporter who asked whether India’s recent military action against Pakistan was meant to send a message to China.
Shashi Tharoor was in an interaction with journalists, at the National Press Club in Washington DC, when he said, “I do believe that what happened on the night of the 9th and 10th speaks for itself, and even more so, the immediate reaction of Pakistan the next morning to call off the conflict also speaks very vividly for itself, and maybe that’s the message the Chinese will have to look at.”
“The fact that they (Pakistan) were using Chinese weapons and we were bypassing some of the Chinese radar defences, and the famous sort of Chinese network system, that’s supposed to be the great sort of Chinese ‘kill chain’ we read about in the newspapers. When India decided to bypass some of those threats and hit the airfields, I don’t think they’re worrying about who gets the message.” Tharoor added.
He continued, “They wanted to make sure that the Pakistanis got the message, and they got the rough end of what we were sending them, which they did.”
Earlier last month after India targeted nine terror hubs located in Pakistan and PoK, Islamabad’s foreign minister Ishaq Dar told Parliament that Chinese J-10C jets were used to shoot down five Indian aircraft, including Rafale jets. The Indian government did not officially confirmed the development.
However, China’s foreign ministry denied knowledge of the matter. Spokesperson Lin Jian stated that China was “not familiar with the matter” when questioned about possible involvement of Chinese weaponry.
US lawmakers back India
Tharoor led Group 5 of an all-party Indian parliamentary delegation met with top US lawmakers, including HFAC chairman Brian Mast and ranking member Gregory Meeks. After the meet, the lawmakers expressed “bipartisan” support for India and condemned the Pahalgam terror attack.
Chairman Mast said, “Every one of us strongly condemned the terrorist attacks that took place. There’s no room in this world for those kinds of attacks… When you are attacked, you have no choice but to respond.”
He added, “We have a great friendship and partnership between our nations, and we see nothing but growth and expansion in the future.”
The Indian delegation’s visit to Washington is part of a wider international campaign after Operation Sindoor, including visits to Brazil and Europe, aimed at securing global support against terrorism and reinforcing India’s security concerns on the world stage.