Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Thursday expressed hope that during the interaction between US President Donald Trump and Pakistan's Army General Asim Munir, America would remind Pakistan of the importance of not supporting terrorism.
Tharoor Reminds America Of Osama After Trump Hosts Army Chief Asim Munir In White House
On being asked by reporters as to why the US President did not meet the Indian delegation, but met the Pakistani General, Tharoor said that the Indian delegates were received by Vice President J D Vance which was a "significant honour".
Tharoor further said sending this message to the Pakistani Army General was also in America's interests as Pakistan had harboured Osama Bin Laden who was responsible for September 11, 2001 terror attacks which claimed close to 3,000 lives.
Tharoor's comments come after his party colleagues slammed the Centre over the same and calling it a "huge blow" to Indian diplomacy.
What Did Shashi Tharoor Say?
The Congress MP made the remark in response to a query from reporters here about Munir being invited to lunch by Trump.
"I hope in their interaction they would remind Pakistan of the great importance of not supporting terrorism, not providing a safe haven to terrorists and not enabling, guiding, training, arming, financing, equipping and dispatching terrorists to our country," he said.
He said this message was conveyed to the Pakistani delegation by some of the American Senators and Congressmen and hoped that everyone in the US government would do the same.
On being asked by reporters as to why the US President did not meet the Indian delegation, but met the Pakistani General, Tharoor said that the Indian delegates were received by Vice President J D Vance which was a "significant honour".
Usually, Parliamentary delegates are met by senior officials, like Deputy Secretaries of State, he said.
He also pointed out that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had met with Trump much earlier.
"We gave exactly the same message that the PM gave to the US President and our message was received without any demur, disagreement or argument by the Vice President and the Deputy Secretary of State," he said.
On the alleged mediation by the US to end the India-Pakistan conflict, Tharoor said that India never needed any persuading to stop as it had made it clear that if Pakistan stopped, so would it.
"If there was any pressure from President Trump, it would only have been on Pakistan. When Pakistan offered to stop, we stopped. So, there was no requirement for any mediation or any pressure on us," he said.
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Tharoor also termed as "grave" the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict, saying that both nations were long time friends of India which would ideally prefer there be peace between the two countries.
Tharoor said that presently the matter was "not in our hands" and all that India can do is observe with "attention and concern" what is going on there.
"Our concerns remain, of course, for the well being of the people there as well as the safety and security of our own citizens," he said.
The Congress MP also said a number of Indian students have been evacuated from Iran to neighbouring countries and that he was sure the Indian government was closely following what was happening in West Asia.
For the first time since the hostilities between India and Pakistan took place last month, Trump did not claim credit for it and said that the two neighbouring nations decided to end the stand off by themselves.
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A day earlier, speaking of his relations with India and Pakistan, Trump told reporters, "I love Pakistan. I think Modi is a fantastic man. I spoke to him last night. We're going to make a trade deal with Modi of India."
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