Shashi Tharoor & His Delegation Heads To US, Says India Won’t Be Silenced by Terrorism
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, leading an all-party parliamentary delegation as part of India’s Operation Sindoor global outreach, departed from Delhi early Saturday morning with a clear message: India will not be silenced by terrorism.
The 9-member delegation, comprising MPs from multiple parties including BJP, Congress, TDP, and JMM, will visit the United States, Panama, Guyana, Brazil, and Colombia. Their mission is to present a unified Indian stance against terrorism and reaffirm India’s global partnerships.
The delegation took off from Delhi airport around 2 AM Saturday. Ahead of departure, Tharoor addressed the media, stating:
“We need to speak up for our country, for our response, and to give the world the message that we will not be silenced by terrorism.”
He added that the trip is a “mission of peace and hope,” and not just political engagement but a symbolic reaffirmation of India’s resilience.
Their first stop will be New York, where they are scheduled to visit the 9/11 Memorial—a symbolic gesture, Tharoor said, to draw attention to India’s own experiences with terror.
“Just as the world remembers 9/11, we too have suffered. The stop reminds the world that we, like others, have lost lives to terrorism,” he said.
The team includes BJP MPs Tejasvi Surya, Bhubaneswar Kalita, and Shashank Mani Tripathi; LJP’s Shambhavi Choudhary; TDP’s GM Harish Balayogi; Shiv Sena’s Milind Deora; JMM’s Sarfaraz Ahmad; and former Indian Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu.
Despite internal party disagreement over Tharoor’s nomination as leader—reportedly announced by the government without Congress’ consultation—members showed a united front at the airport.
Visuals from Delhi airport showed Tharoor and BJP MP Tejasvi Surya walking hand-in-hand, smiling, in a show of bipartisan cooperation.
“It’s good to have everyone on the same page. We will speak with one voice,” Tharoor told India Today TV.
According to Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh, the party had recommended four names—Anand Sharma, Gaurav Gogoi, Syed Naseer Hussain, and Raja Brar—after being approached by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju.
Tharoor’s name, however, was announced by the government in a press release without prior notice to the Congress party.
“Tharoor’s nomination blindsided us,” said a senior Congress official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Still, the party has not formally opposed the visit and is expected to support the delegation’s messaging abroad.
Operation Sindoor is India’s post-terror attack outreach initiative aimed at garnering global diplomatic support following a series of Pakistan-linked terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, including the April massacre in Pahalgam.
