NEW DELHI: Congress MP and former diplomat Shashi Tharoor , leading an all-party delegation, arrived in Colombia 's Bogota on Thursday as part of a diplomatic outreach to brief global partners on India’s recent counterterrorism action, Operation Sindoor , and to reaffirm India’s firm position on, now suspended, the Indus Waters Treaty , a long-standing pact between India and Pakistan .
Addressing the media in Colombian capital, Tharoor highlighted India’s evolving approach to terrorism and the broader diplomatic consequences of continued crossborder threats.
Speaking about the suspension of the water-sharing agreement with Pakistan, Thiruvananthapuram MP said, "The Indus Waters Treaty was one that was offered by India to Pakistan in the early 1960s in a spirit of goodwill and harmony. In fact, those words occur in the preamble of the treaty; sadly, that goodwill has been repeatedly betrayed by the terrorist actions of the last four decades."
He added, "Even though we have had terrorism and war inflicted on us, the treaty has remained in place, but this time our government has placed the treaty in abeyance, which means it is in effect suspended. Its operations are suspended until such time as we get satisfactory indication from Pakistan that they're prepared to conduct themselves in that spirit of goodwill that is provided for in the preamble of the treaty."
Tharoor also pointed out India’s restraint over the years: "We are very conscious that we have been a generous neighbour when it comes to the operation of the treaty. We are in an upper riparian state. We have given Pakistan very generously the waters that they are entitled to under the treaty, and we have not even used all the waters we are entitled to under the treaty. But the time for acting on the basis of goodwill unilaterally is frankly no longer with us..."
Reacting to Colombia’s diplomatic response to India’s recent strikes on terror camps, Tharoor said, "We were a little disappointed in the reaction of the Colombian government, which apparently expressed heartfelt condolences on the loss of lives in Pakistan after the Indian strikes, rather than sympathising with the victims of terrorism..."
He further added, "We will say to our friends in Colombia, there can be no equivalence between those who dispatch terrorists and those who resist them. There can be no equivalence between those who attack and those who defend. We are only exercising our right of self-defence, and if there is any misunderstanding here on this core, we are here to dispel any such misunderstanding. We're very happy to talk to Colombia in some detail about the circumstances. We have, as I said, very concrete proof. In fact, when this terrorist attack occurred, it was immediately claimed by an organisation called The Resistance Front, which is a unit of the Lashkar-e-Taiba base in Muridke, Pakistan... Just as Colombia has endured many terror attacks, so have we in India. We have endured a very large number of attacks for almost four decades."
Tharoor also recalled the recent terror strike that prompted India’s military response: "India suffered a grievous terrorist attack on the 22nd of April... When this happened, of course, the world rose up to condemn the terrorist attack, but that was as far as it went. There was no action taken, not even by the country where these people had emerged from, Pakistan. Nobody was arrested, and there was no attempt at any prosecution. India decided that this kind of outrage could not go unpunished. On May 7, India chose to strike against known terror bases and launch pads."
Tharoor is leading a broad all-party parliamentary delegation touring countries in the Americas to explain India’s counterterrorism operation launched on May 7 and to counter Pakistan’s global narrative.
The outreach is part of India’s diplomatic push to promote its zero-tolerance approach to terrorism.
The delegation includes representatives from across the political spectrum, Congress, BJP, Shiv Sena, JMM, TDP, LJP - as well as former Indian ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu. Their visit began at the 9/11 Memorial in New York, a symbolic gesture linking global victims of terrorism and reinforcing the shared nature of the threat.
Among the members are Shambhavi Chaudhary (Lok Janshakti Party), Sarfaraz Ahmed (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha), G M Harish Balayagi (Telugu Desam Party), Shashank Mani Tripathi, Tejaswi Surya, Bhubaneswar Kalita (BJP), Mallikarjun Devda (Shiv Sena), Milind Deora (Shiv Sena), and Taranjit Singh Sandhu.
The all-party delegation is structured into seven groups, each led by one MP, to engage in wide-ranging discussions with governments, think tanks, and media across the region, seeking to strengthen India’s position in the global fight against terrorism.
Addressing the media in Colombian capital, Tharoor highlighted India’s evolving approach to terrorism and the broader diplomatic consequences of continued crossborder threats.
Speaking about the suspension of the water-sharing agreement with Pakistan, Thiruvananthapuram MP said, "The Indus Waters Treaty was one that was offered by India to Pakistan in the early 1960s in a spirit of goodwill and harmony. In fact, those words occur in the preamble of the treaty; sadly, that goodwill has been repeatedly betrayed by the terrorist actions of the last four decades."
#WATCH | Bogotá, Colombia | Congress MP Shashi Tharoor says, "The Indus Waters Treaty was one that was offered by India to Pakistan in the early 1960s in a spirit of goodwill and harmony. In fact, those words occur in the preamble of the treaty; sadly, that goodwill has been… pic.twitter.com/DtDkSIHthG
— ANI (@ANI) May 30, 2025
He added, "Even though we have had terrorism and war inflicted on us, the treaty has remained in place, but this time our government has placed the treaty in abeyance, which means it is in effect suspended. Its operations are suspended until such time as we get satisfactory indication from Pakistan that they're prepared to conduct themselves in that spirit of goodwill that is provided for in the preamble of the treaty."
Tharoor also pointed out India’s restraint over the years: "We are very conscious that we have been a generous neighbour when it comes to the operation of the treaty. We are in an upper riparian state. We have given Pakistan very generously the waters that they are entitled to under the treaty, and we have not even used all the waters we are entitled to under the treaty. But the time for acting on the basis of goodwill unilaterally is frankly no longer with us..."
Reacting to Colombia’s diplomatic response to India’s recent strikes on terror camps, Tharoor said, "We were a little disappointed in the reaction of the Colombian government, which apparently expressed heartfelt condolences on the loss of lives in Pakistan after the Indian strikes, rather than sympathising with the victims of terrorism..."
He further added, "We will say to our friends in Colombia, there can be no equivalence between those who dispatch terrorists and those who resist them. There can be no equivalence between those who attack and those who defend. We are only exercising our right of self-defence, and if there is any misunderstanding here on this core, we are here to dispel any such misunderstanding. We're very happy to talk to Colombia in some detail about the circumstances. We have, as I said, very concrete proof. In fact, when this terrorist attack occurred, it was immediately claimed by an organisation called The Resistance Front, which is a unit of the Lashkar-e-Taiba base in Muridke, Pakistan... Just as Colombia has endured many terror attacks, so have we in India. We have endured a very large number of attacks for almost four decades."
Tharoor also recalled the recent terror strike that prompted India’s military response: "India suffered a grievous terrorist attack on the 22nd of April... When this happened, of course, the world rose up to condemn the terrorist attack, but that was as far as it went. There was no action taken, not even by the country where these people had emerged from, Pakistan. Nobody was arrested, and there was no attempt at any prosecution. India decided that this kind of outrage could not go unpunished. On May 7, India chose to strike against known terror bases and launch pads."
Tharoor is leading a broad all-party parliamentary delegation touring countries in the Americas to explain India’s counterterrorism operation launched on May 7 and to counter Pakistan’s global narrative.
The outreach is part of India’s diplomatic push to promote its zero-tolerance approach to terrorism.
The delegation includes representatives from across the political spectrum, Congress, BJP, Shiv Sena, JMM, TDP, LJP - as well as former Indian ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu. Their visit began at the 9/11 Memorial in New York, a symbolic gesture linking global victims of terrorism and reinforcing the shared nature of the threat.
Among the members are Shambhavi Chaudhary (Lok Janshakti Party), Sarfaraz Ahmed (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha), G M Harish Balayagi (Telugu Desam Party), Shashank Mani Tripathi, Tejaswi Surya, Bhubaneswar Kalita (BJP), Mallikarjun Devda (Shiv Sena), Milind Deora (Shiv Sena), and Taranjit Singh Sandhu.
The all-party delegation is structured into seven groups, each led by one MP, to engage in wide-ranging discussions with governments, think tanks, and media across the region, seeking to strengthen India’s position in the global fight against terrorism.
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