New Delhi: Senior Congress leader and Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, Shashi Tharoor, has underscored the stark asymmetry in the recent India-Pakistan conflict, stating that while India targeted terrorist infrastructure with precision, Pakistan resorted to indiscriminate shelling of Indian civilian areas due to the absence of terror bases within India.
Speaking at an event hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations in the United States, Tharoor addressed an audience that included former US Ambassador to India Kenneth I Juster. He was leading a multi-party parliamentary delegation as part of India’s global diplomatic outreach following Operation Sindoor, India’s recent military response to the Pahalgam terror attack.
“What was tragic was the indiscriminate Pakistani artillery shelling, which should never have been done in the manner it was,” Tharoor said. “We hit terror bases [in Pakistan]. There are no terror bases in India to hit… So what do you hit? You hit civilians. That’s the asymmetry of this particular conflict.”
Tharoor noted that India’s response was measured, targeted, and focused on counter-terrorism rather than civilian retaliation. “We have tried not just to be precise and calibrated in our response, but we have systematically signalled that we are not interested in war with Pakistan,” he said. “This is not India versus Pakistan — it’s India versus terrorism.”
Highlighting the shift in modern warfare, Tharoor remarked on the technological evolution of conflict. “It’s striking that neither country actually crossed into the other’s airspace during the four days of fighting. Everything was done remotely — using drones, missiles, and long-range systems,” he said.
He strongly criticised Pakistan’s continued patronage of terror outfits, questioning why Islamabad had failed to dismantle safe havens for terrorists on its soil. “If you don’t want your territory to be targeted because it houses terrorists, then shut down the safe havens, arrest their leaders, close their bank accounts, and disband these organisations,” he asserted. “If you’re not prepared to do that, this is the only way we can deal with it — because we are not going to sit quietly and be attacked at your convenience.”
India launched Operation Sindoor in response to the brutal killing of 26 Indian tourists in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, by Pakistan-linked terrorists. The operation saw India using precision cruise missiles to strike terror infrastructure across the border in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), followed by further strikes on Pakistani military assets including radar sites and air bases.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had described Operation Sindoor as more than a military action — calling it a doctrinal shift in India’s counter-terrorism policy. “This is a message to the world that India will act firmly against terrorism at its source,” he had said in a televised address following the strikes.
The cross-border hostilities have sparked international attention, with India reiterating its position that its actions were purely against terror elements and not aimed at Pakistani civilians. Tharoor’s comments further reinforced New Delhi’s emphasis on responsible and targeted responses in contrast to what he called Pakistan’s reckless targeting of innocent populations.
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