Johannesburg (South Africa) [India], May 30 (ANI): During the all-party delegation visit to South Africa under the government’s big diplomatic outreach following the Operation Sindoor, MPs across party lines lauded the country’s firm support for India’s stand against terrorism.
The delegation led by NCP-SCP MP Supriya Sule, speaking in Johannesburg, described the meeting as “very meaningful and productive,” highlighting South Africa’s commitment to stand with India in its stance of zero tolerance against terror.
“It was a very meaningful and productive meeting, South Africa is committed to supporting India in zero tolerance against terror. This is the land of Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi, and both our countries have gained independence with the sacrifice of millions of lives,” Sule said while speaking to ANI on Thursday (local time).
“This is the legacy of these two tall leaders and sons of the world. We appreciate the support given to us. It is extraordinarily encouraging, and I am very sure that in this fight against terror, South Africa is going to stand very strongly with India,” she added.
Echoing similar sentiments, BJP MP Anurag Thakur emphasised India’s peaceful history and the necessity of exposing global terrorism.
“In the last 75 years, India neither encroached or attacked any country, neither did it ever intend to. The world knows this. But we have to tell the world about the continuous attacks India faced from Pakistan in which thousands of people lost their lives. South Africa stands with us in solidarity and they also consider terrorism as a global threat…”
Meanwhile, Congress leader Manish Tewari, who is also a part of the all-party delegation, said that Pakistan has been behaving and acting like a “rogue state”.
He also stated that the delegation, during their visit to South Africa, conveyed the need to isolate states using terrorism as an instrument of state policy, in apparent reference to Pakistan.
“African National Congress and India have a long-standing relationship which is underpinned by the mutual respect for Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. The Indian delegation very clearly conveyed it to the African National Congress, our interlocutors, that there is a need to isolate those states which use terrorism as an instrument of state policy…,” he told ANI.
He also stated that Pakistan-sponsored terrorism has been creating “instability” in Afghanistan and Iran as well.
“We also sensitised them about the fact that it is not only India that has been hit for the past 4.5 decades by terrorism being sponsored from Pakistan. Pakistan has been creating instability in Afghanistan and Iran. Pakistan has been behaving and acting like a rogue state, now going back many decades… The African National Congress expressed its solidarity, saying that they will not be a party, and will not, in any manner, endorse a state which uses terror as an instrument of state policy…,” Tewari added.
The members of the delegation comprises of MPs Supriya Sule, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Vikramjeet Singh Sahney, Manish Tewari, Anurag Singh Thakur, Lavu Sri Krishna devarayalu, Anand Sharma, former Minister of Commerce & Industry, V Muraleedharan, Former Minister of State for External Affairs, and Syed Akbaruddin, Former Permanent Representative of India to the UN.
The delegation visited Constitution Hill, Johannesburg, where Mahatma Gandhi was imprisoned, and also saw the Mandela-Gandhi Exhibition inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi and paid floral tribute at the Gandhi Statue.
On April 22, terrorists killed 26 people, including a Nepalese national, in Baisaran valley in the popular tourist destination of Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir. India launched ‘Operation Sindoor’ on May 7 in response to the attack, which targeted 9 terror bases and led to the death of terrorists affiliated with terror outfits like the Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Hizbul Mujahideen. (ANI).
