Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi handled the conflict between India and Pakistan "extremely well", Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said on Tuesday, praising him for Operation Sindoor and for sending a clear message to the neighbouring country through his first public address on the strikes a day earlier.
"It is certainly always needed (PM address). It is the duty of our Prime Minister to speak to his people from time to time. He does his monthly broadcast, Mann Ki Baat, which is not urgent and critical stuff. It's more selective in general," Mr Tharoor told NDTV.
"I think coming on television, looking the nation square in the eye and talking about big issues on top of their minds is always important, whether it was Covid or whether it is war. We needed him to do that. So I am glad he did it," he added.
On Monday, PM Modi addressed the nation for the first time since the conflict with the neighbouring country erupted last week. He said operations against Pakistan have only been kept in abeyance and the future will depend on their behaviour.
Mr Tharoor, who is a Lok Sabha Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram, said the Prime Minister should make similar addresses "every time there is a moment of crisis".
Lauding Operation Sindoor, which was launched in response to the Pahalgam terror attack, the Congress said: "I have no doubts that a meticulously planned operation like this came out of a sophisticated military headquarters. It's not some random, crazy doing something."
"The overall crisis was handled extremely well. I have gone on record saying that Operation Sindoor, from the naming to the presentation to the conduct, everything I give full marks to," Mr Tharoor said.
He also said that Pakistan should now realise that "we are not anymore prepared to take all this (terror attacks)". "The more you do, the more consequences you are going to face. I think all that messaging was very clear, and the Pakistanis have got that message," he said.
Operation Sindoor was launched on the intervening night of May 7 and 8 escalated bilateral tensions, since it led to strikes and counter-strikes between the two nations. On Saturday, India and Pakistan reached an agreement to stop all firing and military action on land, air and sea, with effect from 5pm. Pakistan, however, violated the agreement within hours of it coming into effect.
"Pleased To Find My Lines In PM Speech"
Mr Tharoor said he was very pleased to see one of his lines from an article he wrote last week mentioned in the Prime Minister's speech.
"I was very pleased to see one of my lines that caught the attention of his speech writers because he used this - When I said the Prime Minister had said this is not an era of war and I had added in my Indian Express article two weeks ago, but it is not an era of terrorism either. That line made it to the PM's speech. So I feel chuffed about that," he said.
"PM's Message Was Good, Didn't Focus On Pak's Claims"
On the Opposition's claims that the Prime Minister's speech wasn't sufficient and failed to address misinformation by Pakistan, Mr Tharoor said: "I don't think he particularly addressed the other people's (Pakistan) narrative at all. He talked about what we were trying to do, what we believe we accomplished and how determined we are in the future. That message is good."
The global narrative is shaped by various factors, the Congress leader said. "There are people below his (PM Modi's) level who should be doing that (tackling misinformation)... if there are media organisations that are willing to give us the time and space to be heard, we should leap on to those because we cannot entirely rely on the fact that we issued the right statements from here, (but) are people really hearing them in their own countries, in their own languages, in their own TV stations? These are important issues," he said.
"Pakistan In Denial Mode"
The Congress leader said "denial is the Pakistani modus operandi". "Pakistanis are going and telling everybody 'oh my gosh, we did nothing. They (Indians) were attacking us without any provocation'. And when we say look at Pahalgam, they say we didn't do Pahalgam, where is the evidence? And indeed in many foreign interviews, badgering us to say where is your evidence," he said.
"Where was the evidence that Osama Bin Laden was there until they found him. Where was the evidence that they had done 26/11 until Kasab was captured alive. The problem is denial is the Pakistani modus operandi," he added.
Al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden, who had approved the attacks on the US on September 11, 2001, was killed by the US forces in 2011.
Ajmal Kasab, on the other hand, was one of the 10 terrorists who carried out the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. The only one to be arrested, he was hanged to death on November 21, 2012.
Mr Tharoor, however, said it is important for India to hunt down the perpetrators of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 tourists - 25 Indians and one Nepali citizen.
"I believe that we still have to go after the individuals who perpetrated Pahalgam; we seem to have identified three out of four of them by name. We have to go after them and get them. Whatever it takes, however long it takes, is something that is indispensable for India's self-respect to achieve," he said.
