'We are not looking for war': Shashi Tharoor says Brazil backs India's anti-terror stance against Pakistan

NEW DELHI: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who is leading an all-party delegation to Brazil, on Monday reiterated India’s firm message to terror groups and their facilitators across the border, stating, “I want to say once again if Pakistan had not chosen to expand the conflict, we would not have targeted Pakistani military facilitators. We are not looking for war. We are looking only to send a message to terrorists, but through them, we want the message to be heard by those who are providing them safe haven, by those who are financing them, training them, equipping them, guiding them and sending them across the border.”

Speaking in Brasilia after meeting Brazil’s top presidential adviser Celso Amorim, Tharoor said Brazil “fully sympathises” with India’s concerns on cross-border terrorism, especially in the aftermath of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack and India’s subsequent response through Operation Sindoor.

"It was a wonderful meeting... we have worked closely together... it was an easy conversation...we are finding lots of areas of agreement and cooperation...we know that Brazil will fully sympathise with what India is concerned about," Tharoor said, referring to Brazil’s solidarity on the issue. Amorim reaffirmed Brazil’s position, saying, “Even if the reasons may be sad, it is a satisfaction to receive our Indian friends... we reiterated our condemnation of all acts of terrorism against the civilian population in India."

Tharoor emphasised that India’s military actions were carefully calibrated and not aimed at escalation. He underlined the lack of accountability in Pakistan following the Pahalgam attack and added that the delegation’s mission was to “seek greater sympathy and understanding” globally for India’s counter-terror strategy.

"The reason we have come is very much to seek greater sympathy and understanding on the part of our friends... for the situations in the recent months, in particular the really serious attack on the country by terrorists in Kashmir," Tharoor noted, while also expressing gratitude for President Lula da Silva’s personal condolence call to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Following their high-level diplomatic meetings, the delegation also held discussions with the India-Brazil Friendship Front, headed by Senator Nelsinho Trad, and with senior officials including Ambassador Maria Laura da Rocha, Secretary General of Foreign Affairs.

The Indian delegation includes MPs from various parties: Shambhavi Chaudhary (LJP), Sarfaraz Ahmed (JMM), G M Harish Balayogi (TDP), Shashank Mani Tripathi, Tejaswi Surya, Bhubaneswar Kalita (all BJP), Mallikarjun Devda (Shiv Sena), Milind Deora (Shiv Sena), and former Indian Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu.