"...you leave us alone, and we will leave you alone,”

Delegation, Led by Shashi Tharoor, Visits Panama latest news: An all-party Indian Parliamentary delegation, led by Hon’ble MP Shashi Tharoor, arrived in Panama as part of India’s diplomatic outreach following Operation Sindoor. The two-day visit comes after a similar diplomatic mission to Guyana, with the aim of building international support and understanding regarding India’s position on terrorism.

The delegation was warmly received by Panamanian assembly president Dana Castaneda, who expressed solidarity with India and encouraged continued efforts in the global fight against terrorism.

Addressing the Indian diaspora and Panamanian dignitaries, Mr. Tharoor stated, “The message is very clear: we have the capacity to target you where it will hurt you. If you stop, we stop. If you don’t stop, watch out for what’s coming next.”

Highlighting the bipartisan nature of the mission, he emphasized, “We represent many different parties. Even within the seven members of my delegation, there are representatives from four different parties and various parts of the country. Yet, we are united in the same message.”

He explained that India’s Prime Minister has dispatched seven parliamentary delegations to different regions of the world, with the shared goal of raising awareness about the continued threat of terrorism India faces.

“The purpose of our mission is to convey a message on behalf of the people of India to all of you living here in Panama: we will no longer accept the constant outrages of terrorism inflicted upon our people,” Mr. Tharoor asserted.

Citing India’s long history with terrorism, he reminded the audience of the first major attacks in Kashmir in 1989, followed by numerous deadly incidents, including the 2008 Mumbai attacks, which killed 170 people. “I myself wrote an article listing 15 major terror attacks since the year 2000,” he noted.

Speaking on Pakistan’s role, Mr. Tharoor stated, “It is simply not acceptable for us to continue to bear the pain, the grief, the wounds, the losses — and then merely go and tell the international community, ‘Look what is happening to us. Please help us. Please put pressure on the perpetrators.’ Despite our best efforts, none of that has happened.”

He reiterated that after the Mumbai attacks, India had captured terrorist Ajmal Kasab and provided clear evidence of Pakistan’s involvement, yet no mastermind has been brought to justice. “Pakistan continues to support, train, and fund terrorists responsible for attacks around the world for the past two decades. This is the sad reality we are facing today,” he added.

The delegation’s visit underscores India’s commitment to rallying global support in its stand against terrorism and ensuring the international community recognizes the gravity of continued cross-border attacks.

Hon’ble MP Mr. Shashitharoor also made it clear that India has “no quarrel with the people of Pakistan. We would love to live in peace.”

He went on to explain why India seeks peace and not war: “India is proud of its economic success story. We have been trying to lift people out of poverty. We have been working to develop our technology, our tech stack, so that we can enter the 21st century as a proud and confident leading country in the world.”

“We are already the fourth-largest economy in dollar terms. In another 10 years or so, we should become the third-largest economy. In purchasing power parity terms, we are already there. We don’t want to be distracted by wars, conflicts, and terror. We want to focus on growth, prosperity, and a better life for our people,” he said.

However, he noted that “our desire to just be left alone is not reciprocated by our friends on the other side of the border,” stating that Pakistan has repeatedly chosen to attack India while making territorial claims within India’s sovereign borders. “We are not going to give it to them,” he said. Despite the cost, India remains firm in protecting its unity and will not concede any land.

In his address, he also warned that terrorists have now realized there is a price to pay for any radical action against India.

“For the first time, India breached the Line of Control between India and Pakistan to conduct a surgical strike on a terror base — a launch pad — after the Uri attack in September 2016,” he said, calling it “something we had never done before.”

He continued, “During Pulwama in February 2019, we didn’t just cross the Line of Control — we crossed the international border and struck a terrorist headquarters in Balakot.”

Speaking about Operation Sindoor, he added, “We have struck not only beyond the LoC and the international border, but we have hit the Punjabi heartland of Pakistan — striking terror bases, training centers, and terror headquarters in nine locations across both Punjab and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).” He asserted, “This is going to be the new normal.”

India’s Prime Minister declared Operation Sindoor necessary after terrorists devastated the lives of 26 women by killing their husbands. Some of the women begged the terrorists to kill them too, but were told to live and share their stories. India responded firmly, vowing that the sacred sindoor worn by these women would be matched by the blood of the attackers.

Talking about the precision strikes carried out during Operation Sindoor, he said, “India is not a warmongering state. Even when we conducted those attacks — the first nine terror base strikes — our government made it very clear that we were not looking for any escalation. These were very carefully, precisely calibrated strikes. We hit only terror bases. We did not target any military facilities, government installations, or civilian homes.”

“Very precise targeting meant that even within the compounds of Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, we struck specific buildings. And we did so at night — between 1:05 and 1:30 AM. Why? Because we didn’t want collateral damage. At any other time of the day, there might have been civilians nearby. We did not want their lives to be harmed,” he added.

He said that with Operation Sindoor, India intended to send a ‘very clear message’ — “And the target was not the people of Pakistan. It was not even the government of Pakistan. The target was only the terrorists — and their enablers.”

Mr. Tharoor said, “Sadly, Pakistan chose to respond.”

He then drew a stark comparison between the manner in which Pakistan retaliated and how India acted.

Hon’ble MP Mr. Shashi Tharoor said, “They fired indiscriminately. Artillery shells flew across the border — in Poonch, in Rajouri — and sadly, we all know this: 19 of our fellow citizens were killed in Pakistani shelling in Poonch alone. Fifty-nine others were hospitalized with grievous injuries.”

“When we attacked, we targeted terror bases. When they attacked, they targeted a convent of nuns, the chalets of Mother Mary. They attacked civilian homes and vehicles.”

“They sent drones and missiles — our air defense systems intercepted them — and we responded by hitting, with great precision, 11 military targets on the night of the 9th and 10th of May. You can see the satellite images on the internet showing bomb craters on the runways of major Pakistani air bases — Rahim Yar Khan Air Base, Air Marshal Nur Khan Air Base. One of them, the Chaklala Base, is just 1.5 kilometers from the Military Headquarters — GHQ Rawalpindi. And finally, they chose to stop.”

He also spoke about the events of May 10, saying, “On the 10th of May, our Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) received a call in the morning. A proper dialogue was scheduled for 3:30 in the afternoon. At that time, their DGMO told ours: ‘We want to stop.’”

“Our General replied, ‘Of course. We did not want to start the firing in the first place — you are the ones who attacked us.’ And by 5:00 PM, a cessation of firing was implemented,” he said, adding, “There is now more or less calm along the border.”

Explaining the diplomatic outreach, he said, “This is why, at this time, our government has requested all of us to visit different countries and engage with government leaders — with parliamentarians, opinion makers, and where possible, with the diaspora — to explain our position, to share why we did what we did, and to seek your sympathetic understanding and support.”

In Panama, the Indian delegation visited the National Assembly and met President Dania Casís.

Panama assembly president Dana Castaneda, in her remarks to Hon’ble MP Mr. Shashi Tharoor, said, “The people of Panama encourage all of you in India to fight with strength against terrorism.”

Issuing a stern warning, Mr. Tharoor added, “If it happens again, there will be worse to come. And we give that warning in advance so that people understand.”

“I repeat — we do not want war. Our actions were not the first salvo intended to begin a long, drawn-out conflict.
We just want to be left alone. We want to grow, develop, and take care of the well-being of our people.
We are saying to Pakistan — and to the people who run that country — you leave us alone, and we will leave you alone,” said Hon’ble MP Mr. Shashi Tharoor.

Delegation led by Mr. Tharoor’s began his diplomatic visit in New York with a stop at the September 11th Memorial. Delegation then travelled to Guyana for a two-day visit. The delegation is currently in Panama for another two-day leg. After this, they will head to Brasília, where they will stay for two and a half days, as their schedule includes a Sunday. Following that, they will travel to the United States, to Washington D.C.

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