Misinformation circulating, lot of work to be done in Washington: Shashi Tharoor

Brasilia, June 3 (IANS) Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who is currently leading the all-party Indian parliamentary delegation in Brazil, has said that the upcoming visit to the United States will be a crucial opportunity to counter misinformation and competing narratives surrounding Operation Sindoor.

His remarks come amid ongoing assertions by US President Donald Trump that his administration helped broker the ceasefire understanding between India and Pakistan -- claims New Delhi firmly denies.

According to Indian officials, it was Pakistan that reached out to India with a request to halt military action following the Pahalgam terror attack, not the other way around.

Tharoor underlined the importance of setting the record straight during the delegation's final leg of international outreach, which will take them to Washington.

Speaking to IANS on the sidelines of engagements in Brazil, Tharoor said, "Washington is a particularly interesting case because it is a large country, a superpower with enormous influence in the world, and there are many crosscurrents of information, misinformation, and other narratives circulating. So, we have quite a lot of work to do there."

He added that the delegation will engage a broad spectrum of stakeholders in the US capital.

"We are engaging with a range of audiences, including government officials, senators, and congressmen on Capitol Hill. We are also meeting with think tanks and organisations specialising in foreign policy, and also the media," Tharoor said.

The Congress MP also said that several countries need to understand that dialogue is not possible with the nations that facilitate cross-border terrorism.

Emphasising the importance of international solidarity against terrorism, he noted, "We're looking for solidarity in our struggle against terrorism. What is very clear in these countries is that some of these issues they understand, some they don't fully understand. And the natural instinct in many countries is to say -- why not have a dialogue? But it's very difficult to have a dialogue with people who are pointing a gun at your head, who are sending terrorists across your border. That becomes a problem."

He stressed that dismantling the infrastructure of terrorism must precede any meaningful engagement.

"The first thing should be for them to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism. And then we can see what kind of talking we can do. Stop giving safe haven to killers and murderers, and instead, arrest and prosecute them. We need a different story, but they have not been doing that in Pakistan," Tharoor said.

"For us, in these countries, understanding our position and leaving with a sense of solidarity was important -- and that we have done," he added.

--IANS

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