Congress’ Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor is among the Opposition MPs to be part of government delegations to different countries as India plans a campaign to ‘expose’ Pakistan on terrorism on world forum. In fact, according to the reports, Shashi Tharoor may also lead a government delegation to the United States.

The exercise is aimed at presenting India’s stance against Pakistan on terror comes in the wake of Operation Sindoor – the Indian offensive against terror in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) following the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed.

Senior leaders, including MPs, of various parties from both the ruling and the Opposition, have been sounded out by the government and some parties have also given their go-ahead to the presence of their members for the diplomatic exercise. Some of the former ministers, too, would be part of the delegations.

Sources told news agency PTI that the delegations could include as many as 30 MPs. According to reports, the delegations will embark on 10-day visits to various countries, grouped into blocs designated by the government.

WHO ARE INCLUDED IN DELEGATIONS?

The BJP, Congress, TMC, DMK, NCP (SP), JDU, BJD, Shiv Sena (UBT), CPI(M), and some others would be part of the government delegations.

A leader of a party that has been sounded out for the exercise said they were told to be ready to leave by May 22-23 for a period of 10 days and that the MEA would be in touch with them to provide the necessary details, including the itinerary, PTI reported.

From the ruling party, former Union Minister Anurag Thakur and BJP MP from Odisha, Aparajita Sarangi, are among the ruling party members to be part of the delegations, the sources said. Former Union Ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad and Rajiv Pratap Rudy, BJP MPs Samik Bhattacharya and Brij Lal are also expected to be part of the delegations.

From Congress, Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari, Salman Khurshid and Amar Singh are likely to be part of the delegation. According to PTI, Shashi Tharoor is likely to lead the delegation.

From TMC Sudip Bandyopadhyay, JDU’s Sanjay Jha, BJD’s Sasmit Patra, John Brittas of the CPI(M), Priyanka Chaturvedi of Shiv Sena (UBT), Supriya Sule of NCP (SP), the DMK’s K Kanimozhi, AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi and AAP’s Vikramjit Sawhney are also being tapped to be part of the delegations, the sources said.