Operation Sindoor Outreach: All-party delegation led by NCP-SP MP Supriya Sule arrives in Qatar

Doha, May 25 (IANS) An all-party parliamentary delegation led by Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar leader Supriya Sule arrived in Qatar late Saturday as part of the government's outreach with the international community on the fight against terror and over Operation Sindoor post the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.

Apart from Sule, the working president of the NCP-SP, the delegation comprises BJP leaders Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Anurag Thakur and V. Muraleedharan, Congress leaders Manish Tewari and Anand Sharma, Telugu Desam Party leader Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu, Aam Aadmi Party leader Vikramjeet Singh Sawhney, and former diplomat Syed Akbaruddin. It will also travel to South Africa, Ethiopia and Egypt.

"Conveying India's strong message against terrorism to the world! A warm welcome to the multi-party delegation led by @Supriya_sule to Qatar. The delegation comprises @RajivPratapRudy, @vikramsahney, @ManishTewari, @ianuragthakur, @SriKrishnaLavu, @AnandSharmaINC, @VMBJP @AkbaruddinIndia. Ambassador @vipulifs the delegation. @MEAIndia," the Indian Embassy in Qatar said on Saturday in a statement on X.

Ambassador of India to Qatar, Vipul, received the delegation members Supriya Sule, Anand Sharma, Rajeev Pratap Rudy and Anurag Thakur at the Qatar airport.

"Taking India's strong message against terrorism to the world! A warm welcome to the multi-party delegation led by @Supriya_sule to Qatar. Ambassador @vipulifs received the delegation. @MEAIndia," it said in another post on X.

The post was shared by Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal. Qatar is considered to wield influence in the West Asian region and has a role as a mediator in regional conflicts.

"The multi-party Indian delegation led by Supriya Sule, MP, Lok Sabha, is reaching today in Doha for a 2-day visit on May 24-26, 2025. This is the first leg of their tour to four countries namely Qatar, South Africa, Ethiopia and Egypt. In Doha, the delegation will hold interactions with Qatari dignitaries as well as members of media, academia and others. The visit is taking place in the context of April 22 terrorist attack in India in Pahalgam, Operation Sindoor and subsequent developments. The members of the visiting delegation include MPs from both Houses of Parliament, former Ministers and diplomats," the Indian Embassy in Qatar said in a press statement.

"Since the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, the leadership of India and Qatar have remained in touch with each other. Amir of the State of Qatar, H.H. Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani and Prime Minister Modi had telephone conversation on May 6 and discussed the developments. Qatar's Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Jassim Al-Thani and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar also had a telephone call on May 7. Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in its statement on April 23, had conveyed Qatar's strong condemnation and denunciation of the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, the Embassy added in the statement.

"Have departed to Doha along with fellow parliamentarians on a four-leg visit to Qatar, Egypt, Ethiopia, and South Africa to apprise them of India's position on Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. During these 12 long days we will be meeting political leaders, intellectuals, and institutions to build global consensus in the fight against terrorism. Jai Hind INDIA," said Anurag Thakur, who is one of the members of this all-party delegation currently in Qatar.

The Sule-led group will then travel to South Africa, which holds the current G-20 Presidency and then head to Ethiopia, which is also the home to the African Union.

The delegation will visit Egypt, an influential country in the Arab world.

The delegation is one of the seven multi-party delegations India has tasked to visit 33 global capitals to reach out to the international community to emphasise Pakistan's links to terrorism and assert that the recent conflict was triggered by the Pahalgam terror strike and not Operation Sindoor as alleged by Islamabad.

Operation Sindoor was launched on May 7 as a decisive military response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people were killed.

Indian Armed Forces targeted terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, leading to the death of over 100 terrorists affiliated with terror outfits like the Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Toiba and Hizbul Mujahideen.

After the operation, Pakistan retaliated with cross-border shelling across the Line of Control and Jammu and Kashmir as well as attempted drone attacks along the border regions, following which India launched a coordinated attack and damaged radar infrastructure, communication centres and airfields across 11 airbases in Pakistan.

On May 10, an understanding of the cessation of hostilities between the countries was announced.

--IANS

khz/