"Will speak as responsible Indians": Supriya Sule ahead of all-party delegation's visit to partner countries

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], May 22 (ANI): Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) MP Surpriya Sule, who is to lead an all-party delegation to put forward India's stance against terrorism, emphasised that all participating members will be speaking "as responsible Indians" when going to various world capitals, underlining the huge responsibility which has been given to the MPs.
Addressing a press conference in Mumbai, Sule said the remaining delegations would depart on Saturday, May 24, following a scheduled briefing by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
"We will discuss only after the MEA briefs us. This is a huge responsibility. Whatever we say during our outreach, we will say it as responsible Indians," Sule said.
Talking about the MEA briefing of the remaining 4 delegations, she added, "Briefing of the remaining four groups has been scheduled for tomorrow, and we will leave for our visit the day after tomorrow."
Meanwhile, Sule will be leading the group, which will go to Egypt, Qatar, Ethiopia, and South Africa. Eight other members, including BJP's Rajiv Pratap Ruddy, Anurag Singh Thakur, and V Muraleedharan, along with Congress' Manish Tewari, Anand Sharma, TDP's Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu, AAP's Vikramjeet Singh Sahney, and former permanent representative of India to the UN, Syed Akbaruddin, are part of the group.
The All-Party Delegations will project India's national consensus and resolute approach to combating terrorism in all forms and manifestations. They would carry forth to the world the country's strong message of zero tolerance against terrorism.
Earlier in the day, Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde led a delegation met with UAE's Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahyan and UAE parliamentarian Ali Rashid Al-Nuaimi in Abu Dhabi as part of India's global outreach against terrorism post Operation Sindoor.
After the meeting, UAE parliamentarian Al-Nuaimi affirmed his support for India in its fight against terrorism.
"Terrorism has no religion, no nationality. It is an evil for all humanity," Nuaimi said, adding that "Terrorism is an enemy of humanity.... Wise people should rise and speak against terrorism," he told reporters.
Another delegation, which went to Japan met with their foreign minister, Takeshi Iwaya, reiterating India's unwavering national consensus and firm commitment to combat terrorism in all its forms.
The Japanese Foreign Minister expressed strong support for India's fight against terrorism and lauded the restraint shown by India, urging strict punishment for perpetrators of terror acts.
A total of 7 groups consisting of 8-9 members from various political parties have been selected by India to represent its stance of zero tolerance against terror and brief the representatives of other countries on Operation Sindoor.
Operation Sindoor was launched on May 7 as a decisive military response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people were killed. Indian Armed Forces targeted terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, leading to the death of over 100 terrorists affiliated with terror outfits like the Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen.
After the operation, Pakistan retaliated with cross-border shelling across the Line of Control and Jammu and Kashmir as well as attempted drone attacks along the border regions, following which India launched a coordinated attack and damaged radar infrastructure, communication centres and airfields across 11 airbases in Pakistan. On May 10, an understanding of the cessation of hostilities between the countries was announced. (ANI)