“India is a power that maintains the status quo; we don’t want anything that Pakistan has.” The Congress MP in charge of Parliament’s Standing Committee on External Affairs asserts that India has no interest in giving Pakistan the upper hand in this battle.
Following widespread blackouts across more than 15 Indian cities from Jammu & Kashmir to Gujarat and Rajasthan, coupled with cross-border drone and missile attacks from Pakistan, which India’s defense systems successfully countered, Congress MP, former diplomat, and author Shashi Tharoor, who chairs Parliament’s Standing Committee on External Affairs, has provided a clear and articulate perspective on the crisis and the path forward.
Excerpts from Tharoor’s Statement:
On Thursday night, Pakistan sharply escalated tensions. What is the outlook for this conflict?
I had believed Pakistan would refrain from escalating with attacks on Indian targets, given India’s careful messaging that our actions were not the start of a prolonged conflict but a targeted retaliation for the Pahalgam attack. We demonstrated this by striking only known terrorist sites, attacking at night to avoid civilian casualties, and deliberately sparing Pakistan’s military and government facilities. Our intent was clear: this was a response to terrorism, nothing more.
However, Pakistan has chosen to escalate, first with heavy artillery shelling, causing numerous deaths and severe injuries, particularly in Jammu’s Poonch. India responded proportionately. But Pakistan’s subsequent drone and missile strikes on Indian military and civilian targets crossed a red line, justifying India’s robust countermeasures. Pakistan, not India, has stepped onto the escalatory ladder. India’s stance remains consistent: we will not escalate unless provoked. Our message is clear—we are not instigating war.
