"So Difficult To Be Patriotic?" Salman Khurshid's Stinger Dig At Opposition
Congress leader Salman Khurshid - a member of a cross-party delegation travelling to partner nations as part of an outreach after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor - has slammed opposition leaders, including those from his party, questioning participation in these missions.
"When on a mission against terrorism, to carry India's message to the world, it is distressing that people at home are calculating political allegiances... is it so difficult to be patriotic?" he asked on X.
His comments follow praise days earlier for the BJP-led federal government's August 2019 decision to scrap Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and split the former state into two union territories.
Mr Khurshid is part of a delegation led by Janata Dal (United) MP Sanjay Kumar Jha that has visited South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, and Japan, and is presently in Indonesia.
A former External Affairs Minister, Mr Khurshid also said India had a greater role to play in the world today and that it is not 'greedy' for Pakistan territory.
The remark was a clear swipe at Islamabad over its illegal occupation of Kashmir.
Meanwhile, his responses on 'political allegiances' comes amid criticism of opposition MPs on these anti-terrorism delegations, particularly the Congress' Shashi Tharoor, who faces rumours about his party future. Mr Tharoor is leading a team to the United States and other nations.
Those jabbing Mr Tharoor include senior Congress leaders, including party comms boss Jairam Ramesh and spokesperson Pawan Khera, who have called out what they think is the former diplomat's unnecessary praise for the ruling BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Asked about those jabs, Mr Tharoor too said he is more focused on conveying India's message on terrorism, and said he would only speak to his colleagues once he returns.
The seven anti-terrorism delegations are meant to carry India's revised doctrine on terrorism after Pahalgam - an attack in which a Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba killed 26 people.
India responded to that attack with precision military strikes targeting only terror camps - four in Pak and five in Pak-occupied Kashmir - but Islamabad (and Rawalpindi, the Pak Army HQ) retaliated by launching drones and missiles at military and civilian centres in western India.
The missiles and drones were neutralised or shot down by India's air defences and, after 100 hours of military conflict, Pak sought a ceasefire. India accepted the ceasefire request but warned Pak against resuming hostilities, and said it would no longer tolerate cross-border attacks. Pak was also told to desist from funding terrorist strikes, and dismantle terrorist infrastructure in that country, and also vacate illegally occupied regions in Kashmir.
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