BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad exhorted members of the Indian community in France to make every effort to showcase Brand India as a beacon of peace that is fighting against the global curse of terrorism.
Addressing a gathering of community leaders and prominent members of the Indian diaspora in Paris on Monday evening, the all-party delegation led by Prasad conveyed the message that the terrorist attack in Pahalgam last month was a deliberate attempt to undermine peace and development in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
India’s response with Operation Sindoor was “precise, targeted, proportionate and non-escalatory” and targeted at Pakistan-backed terrorist camps.
“When I see the growth of India, I am very proud of all of you because you are the brand ambassadors (of the country),” said Prasad.
“Please properly showcase Brand India, that we are for peace, we are for amity. But if innocent Indians are killed by terrorists, they will have to pay a cost. That is the winning Operation Sindoor,” he said.
The former Union minister reiterated the central message of the delegation that any act of terrorism will be viewed as a war, “because in Pakistan, terrorism and the government establishment are together”.
“And if a question is asked of you (diaspora) that the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) had said this is not the era of war – then it is also not the era of terrorism. Terrorism is a global curse, a global cancer, killing civilized society,” he added.
Fellow Lok Sabha MP Daggubati Purandeswari noted that the delegation was in Europe to present some “hard truths” about terrorism to the global community.
“India has suffered cross-border terrorism long enough… but now India has said enough is enough. We have a leadership today who is not willing to take things lying down. We’ve been a responsible country and never did we wage war on any country by ourselves. But today our patience has gone a long way,” said the Andhra Pradesh leader, who also addressed the gathering in Telugu.
Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi highlighted that terrorism has become an “economic industry for Pakistan” to threaten peace across the world, not just in South Asia.
“We have come to express not just our anger, but our resolute belief that what has begun as Operation Sindoor is not just a conventional fight back. It will be a fight back in all its forms, in all its possibilities, and in all the spaces possible for India to tell the world, and to especially tell Pakistan, that we will hold you to account for every single life that an Indian loses because of your terrorism,” she said.
Kashmiri Rajya Sabha MP Ghulam Ali Khatana pointed to the tourism boom in his home state that was targeted by the terrorists in Pahalgam and that any such action by Pakistan will be perceived as an “act of war” by India.
Congress MP Dr Amar Singh reflected upon how despite political differences between the government and the Opposition, the multi-party initiative had come together to present a “united front against terrorism”.
Rajya Sabha MP Samik Bhattacharya also reiterated this cross-party alignment, intended to expose Pakistan as a sponsor of terror globally.
“Pakistan will never change… it is time that it is diplomatically isolated as a terrorist state,” he said.
AIADMK leader M Thambidurai, who later addressed the diaspora gathering in Tamil, also reiterated the message of the world uniting against the scourge of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism.
“In Pakistan, terrorism is not a maverick activity. It is not the activity of a criminal class which may exist in any country. Terrorism is a state policy,” said former union minister of state M J Akbar.
The community members, including restaurateurs, tech professionals and businessmen of Indian heritage, expressed their full solidarity with India’s fight against cross-border terrorism.
The groups also shared their experience of organising a protest against Pakistan-backed terrorism at the Eiffel Tower in the days after the April 22 Pahalgam attacks, which claimed 26 lives.
The Ravi Shankar Prasad-led delegation, one of 33 similar all-party teams travelling across the globe to express India’s zero-tolerance stance against terror, will hold meetings with Senators and National Assembly members before departing for Italy on Tuesday evening.
This will be followed by visits to Denmark, the UK, Belgium and Germany. (Agencies)
