Indian MPs head overseas after Operation Sindoor but continue to project themselves to local voters

Seven delegations comprising retired Indian diplomats and MPs from all major political parties are travelling around the world to deliver India’s message of zero tolerance for cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan.

According to the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, the reason for picking members from parties across the political spectrum was to “project India’s national consensus and resolute approach to combating terrorism” on the world stage. But many MPs appear to be treating this as an opportunity to project themselves to their voters back home too.

The public engagements of prominent politicians participating in this exercise show that the challenge of Pakistan-backed terrorism is not the only one taking up all their time. The netas are paying special attention to the Indian diaspora, attending cultural functions and speaking to the Indian media.

Domestic politics first

For example, Abhishek Banerjee, the national general secretary of the Trinamool Congress, visited the memorial of Bengali freedom fighter Rash Behari Bose in Tokyo on May 23. There, he complained about the rundown condition of the structure dedicated to this “great son of Bengal” and asked the Indian ambassador in Japan to take it up with the local authorities.

Banerjee also offered prayers at the Ramakrishna Mission in Singapore. This sect of Hinduism, which originated in nineteenth-century Kolkata and spread across the world, continues to wield a powerful influence in West Bengal.

The Bengal leader was by no means the only one playing to his gallery at home on this global sojourn. Ideological opponents both to his Left and Right did not lose sight of their domestic audiences either.

Bharatiya Janata Party MP Nishikant Dubey, who is part of the Indian contingent touring Bahrain and Kuwait, spoke to journalists there about subjects like India’s foreign policy and Pakistan-linked terrorism. Except that the interviews were for Indian news wire agencies, such as Asian News International and Press Trust of India.

John Brittas of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) was in Seoul meeting South Korean ministers and dignitaries. But he still found the time to write a long response to his Kerala rival Shashi Tharoor, who had criticised the CPI(M)-led Kerala government for providing aid to Turkey after an earthquake in February 2023.

Photo ops and desi meetups

Tharoor, himself an expert on international relations, is leading a delegation too. His group has so far visited the United States, Guyana and Panama. All three countries are members of the United Nations Security Council at present.

Soon after the group arrived in New York City on May 24, they paid their respects at the 9/11 memorial and museum. It was a gesture intended to resonate with America’s own experience with terrorism.

However, there were no American elected representatives around to witness it or meet the Indians because the US Congress is currently in recess. The visit did receive substantial media coverage – but only in India. American papers and television channels did not consider it newsworthy.

After this Tharoor’s delegation headed to Guyana first and then Panama. On Thursday, the Congress MP shared pictures from his visit to the Panama Canal, which he called an “engineering marvel”.

The group in Kuwait, led by BJP MP Baijayant Panda, also went to sites of cultural significance, such as the Grand Mosque. In the National Library, they studied “rare manuscripts, ancient books, historical coins” displayed as part of an exhibition to commemorate 250 years of friendship between India and Kuwait.

Besides such efforts, most delegations are devoting a lot of time to meeting the Indian diaspora. Tharoor’s group, for example, spoke to members of the Indian community everywhere it went. The Congress leader even posted pictures from a garba performance at one such event in Panama supposedly attended by 300 Gujaratis and Sindhis.

In Qatar, Manish Tewari, another Congress MP, spoke in Hindi while talking to expat Indians about Pakistan’s involvement in terrorism against India. When Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi met with Indians in Kuwait, he described Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Army Chief Asim Munir as “stupid jokers”.

Priyanka Chaturvedi of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and Supriya Sule of the Nationalist Congress Party – Sharadchandra Pawar also put up social media posts about their meetings with the Indian diaspora. Chaturvedi was in France, while Sule was in South Africa.

The diplomatic grind

The aim of this diplomatic exercise was to convince the world that India had no option but to respond firmly to the Pahalgam terror attack that left 26 people dead and that its military action against Pakistan was “focused, measured and non-escalatory” in nature.

But public documents released by the Ministry of External Affairs suggest that most foreign governments hosting the Indian delegations are yet to be convinced. While ministers and dignitaries in these countries have extended solidarity and support to India in its fight against terrorism, they are stopping short of ascribing the responsibility for Pahalgam to Pakistan.

The responses received by the Indian contingent travelling through East Asia illustrate this.

That group managed to get an audience with the foreign minister of Japan, who expressed his “heartfelt condolences” to the victims of the terror attack. They also met the junior foreign minister of Singapore. “Singapore strongly condemns all acts of terrorism and stands with India against terrorism,” she told them.

However, neither of these officials made any mention of Pakistan.

The vice foreign minister of South Korea also “condemned the [Pahalgam] attack and expressed understanding of India’s position” during his meeting with the delegation. But he did not offer explicit support for India’s actions during Operation Sindoor.

Harsh Pant, vice president of the Observer Research Foundation and a professor of international relations at King’s College London contended that in spite of this lack of visible impact at the moment, the delegations were a good idea.

“The world has a lot of things to worry about at the moment and the India-Pakistan issue is not a top priority,” Pant explained. “But India is doing well to ensure that its message about how it wants to deal with the issue of terrorism is conveyed to its partners and allies. The move to send all-party delegations is a good, sound one. We will find out its effectiveness as time goes by.”

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