‘No Equivalence Between India & Pakistan’: Shashi Tharoor Miffed With Colombia’s Take On Op Sindoor

Last Updated:May 30, 2025, 07:38 is

Shashi Tharoor-led delegation arrived in Colombia, a South American country, and said that there can be “no equivalence” between India and Pakistan.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Thursday (local time) expressed “disappointment” with the Colombian government over its reaction to India’s Operation Sindoor, stating that there can be “no equivalence between those who attack and those who defend” against acts of terrorism.

His remarks came as his delegation reached Colombia after concluding their visit to Panama and Guyana as part of the global outreach to expose Pakistan and present India’s stand against terrorism.

Tharoor’s Disappointment With Colombia

“We were a little disappointed in the reaction of the Colombian government, which apparently expressed heartfelt condolences on the loss of lives in Pakistan after the Indian strikes, rather than sympathising with the victims of terrorism,” news agency ANI quoted Tharoor as saying.

The Congress MP made it abundantly clear to Colombia that there can be “no equivalence” between India and Pakistan, underlining that New Delhi only exercised its right of self-defence after the Pahalgam terror attack, through Operation Sindoor.

“We will say to our friends in Colombia, there can be no equivalence between those who dispatch terrorists and those who resist them. There can be no equivalence between those who attack and those who defend. We are only exercising our right of self-defence, and if there is any misunderstanding here on this core, we are here to dispel any such misunderstanding. We’re very happy to talk to Colombia in some detail about the circumstances,” he said.

Tharoor said that the responsibility of the attack was immediately claimed by The Resistance Front, a unit of the Lashkar-e-Taiba base in Muridke, Pakistan.

“Just as Colombia has endured many terror attacks, so have we in India. We have endured a very large number of attacks for almost four decades,” he said.

His remarks came after the Colombian government earlier expressed heartfelt condolences on the loss of lives in Pakistan after the Indian retaliatory strikes on May 7.

Shashi Tharoor Highlights Chinese Defence Equipment Dominance In Pakistan Military

Tharoor noted that Chinese military equipment dominates the Pakistani military, which is “not for defence but for attack”.

“We are quite conscious that China supplies 81 per cent of all Pakistani defence equipment. Defence is a polite word, Pakistani military equipment. Much of it is not for defence but for attack. Every sovereign country has the right to do that,” he said.

“The single largest project in China’s Belt and Road Initiative is in Pakistan, the so-called China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which is a highway corridor connecting China to a port in southwestern Pakistan that permits goods to be transported relatively quickly and economically to western China. We are aware of that, and our concern is not with the rights of the Pakistani people to pursue development. Of course, they may do so, including with the partnership with China. Our quarrel is only with the perpetration of terror against us,” he added.

Tharoor’s mention of the Belt and Road Initiative comes as Colombia formally agreed May 14 this year to join China’s vast Belt and Road infrastructure initiative, signalling a commitment to enhancing infrastructure development and trade relations with China.

The BRI is a key part of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s plan to grow China’s influence and power in other nations — both economically and politically — and also to counter the US dominance on the Latin American nations.

First Published: