NEW YORK, May 25:

 An all-party delegation of Indian Parliamentarians, led by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, visited the 9/11 memorial here and paid homage to the victims of the terror attacks, expressing solidarity and underlining that the world has to be united in the fight against the “shared problem” of terrorism.

Tharoor said that the visit to the 9/11 Memorial was in a spirit of solidarity and was a “very moving moment for us”.

But it was also meant to send a very strong message that “we are here in a city, which is bearing still the scars of that savage terrorist attack, in the wake of yet another terrorist attack in our own country,” a reference to the April 22 Pahalgam attack.

He said that, unlike the US, India has had to endure a “very much larger number of terrorist attacks.

“We came both as a reminder that this is a shared problem but also a spirit of solidarity with the victims, who included Indians…It’s a global problem, a scourge, and we must all fight it united. That was a very important message to convey,” he said on Saturday.

The delegation, which arrived in New York Saturday afternoon, visited the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in lower Manhattan and kept roses on some of the names of the victims etched on the Memorial Pool. A large number of members of the Indian diaspora were also present at 9/11 for the solemn event.

The all-party delegation will travel from New York to Guyana, Panama, Colombia, and Brazil before returning to Washington DC around June 3 as part of a diplomatic outreach aimed at projecting India’s united and resolute stance against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.

Other members of the delegation include Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) Bhubaneswar Kalita, Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) Milind Murli Deora, Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) Shashank Mani Tripathi, Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) Ganti Harish Madhur and former Indian Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu.

The visit is part of India’s broader engagement with key international partners, including the United States, to foster global cooperation in addressing terrorism.

Later speaking to the media at the 9/11 memorial site, Tharoor said that through the visit to these countries, “we are hoping to be able to explain to the world how important it is for all of us to stand together against the scourge of terrorism.

“Just as the US showed such resolution and determination in the wake of 9/11, so too our country has stood up against the forces of evil who attacked us” on April 22, he said, referring to the Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir in which 26 civilians were killed.

“We hope that a lesson has been learnt by those who perpetrated this attack and by those who finance, train, equip and direct them, but we want to communicate to the world that we will not be sitting quietly if this is repeated,” Tharoor said.

“We want the world to understand that this is not a time for indifference, but for mutual strength and mutual solidarity so that we can all unitedly stand up for the values that the United States has always cherished” – the values of democracy, human freedom, diversity, the coexistence of people of different communities, “none of which, sadly, is in the agenda of those who conducted such attacks.”

Tharoor said India would much rather focus on its own growth and development.

“But if that is going to be thwarted, or attempted to be thwarted by malign people with weapons, then we will answer them in kind.

“That is also part of our message – yes, perpetrators of terror should indeed be brought to justice, and we are not going to stop our hunt for those who did this latest atrocity.

“But we need to think about where these people are based, where they have safe havens, where they are trained, equipped, financed, guided, armed, and often directly directed to perpetrate these horrors. And they too should be accountable for what they have been doing,” he said.

Three of the countries that the delegation will be visiting are currently members of the UN Security Council- Guyana, Panama and permanent member US.

When asked by PTI about the need for the Security Council to ensure terror entities like The Resistance Front, which had claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam attack, are listed under the Council’s 1267 sanctions committee, he said the process involves 15 members of the Council who work by consensus.

“At least one of the permanent members has been helpful to one of the non-permanent members who has a direct stake in this matter,” Tharoor said, making a reference to veto-wielding China and Pakistan that currently sits in the Council as a non-permanent member.

Noting that while getting terror outfits listed takes time and inevitably will happen, “but at the same time, for us, the listing is only part of a process. There is something much more direct that needs to be done and we are not going to confine ourselves only to listings, diplomacy, and production of international dossiers. We are also going to exercise our right to self-defence, which every country recognises. The US has exercised that right itself on repeated occasions.”

Describing the Indian-American community as a “force multiplier” and a “very influential diaspora”, Tharoor said the delegation would like the community “to express the concerns you share with all of us who’ve come from India with your elected representatives.

“We would like you to help sensitise public opinion and political opinion in this country about what is going on and how wrong it is, and certainly we would expect the diaspora to partake of the messaging that we are here to do,” he said.

“We come and go, but you live here and we want you certainly to please remind people around you of what the challenges are that India is facing,” Tharoor said. (PTI)