Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday justified India’s strikes against terrorist sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), saying New Delhi acted because Islamabad-backed terrorists attacked Indian tourists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam.
“They are justified because, yet again, Pakistan-based terrorists, almost armed, financed and guided from Pakistan, have come to our country and killed innocent civilians,” he told an Australian news channel.
Tharoor described India’s action as a “sensibly calibrated response” and said it demonstrated that “a price is to be paid for this kind of conduct”.
“This is the pattern there. This is a state that sponsors terrorism in the most vile manner, and its response absolutely had to be that there is a price to be paid for this kind of conduct. The Indian public expected it to be no less. I believe what India did was a very sensibly calibrated response, where they avoided collateral damage by striking at night, striking buildings that were known to be quarters of wanted terrorist groups,” he added.
Also read: Loud explosion heard in Lahore day after India’s Operation Sindoor: Report
He said the Indian armed forces’ strikes sent out a message that “we are responding to terrorism, but we are not interested in creating a protracted conflict”.
Twenty-six people, mostly tourists, died in a terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam on April 22. He said only the Pakistani military had anything to gain from the attack.
“The Pakistani military is deeply unpopular in Pakistan. They are now in a position where they need some sort of action in order to portray themselves as the saviours of that country. And they are precisely the only set of people who have anything to gain from what happened during that barbaric attack… we have not a shred of doubt on the Pakistani complicity,” he said.
Earlier, in a post on X, Tharoor applauded the government and expressed solidarity with the armed forces, while asserting that India has behaved in a manner that would not justify further expansion of the conflict.
Sharing an article he wrote last week, Tharoor said in a post on X, “A set of calibrated, calculated, precise strikes against terror targets. Exactly what I had advocated last week: hit hard, hit smart. I applaud the government and stand solidly with our armed forces.”
“At the same time we have behaved in a manner that would not justify further expansion of the conflict. We have made our point and acted in self-defense,” the former union minister added.