Seoul [India], May 25 : Congress leader Salman Khurshid, who is part of an all-party delegation in Seoul, said India is in a different league today as the world now sees it as a major global power.
Khurshid is a member of the all-party delegation sent to project India's national consensus and resolute approach to combating terrorism in all forms and manifestations. In the context of Operation Sindoor and India's continued fight against cross-border terrorism, seven All-Party Delegations have been visiting key countries, including members of the UN Security Council.
"The message to the world is that India is in a different league today. They see us as a country that's emerging as a top country globally," Khurshid said while addressing the Indian diaspora here.
He pointed out that India has now become the fourth-largest economy, going ahead of Japan. "We have emerged beyond Japan as the fourth-largest economy, and we are going by leaps and bounds," he said.
Khurshid added that this progress must be protected. "This is something we need to protect, and we will protect it. We will not allow anybody to distract us from this purpose," he said.
"We don't do things to hurt somebody, we only do things to defend ourselves. First reaction that the world gave to us was, that India has the right to defend itself, Khurshid said on Operation Sindoor.
"The world looks at a variety of things... their own geopolitical circumstances, their own purposes, etc. And therefore, fortunately, a very limited number of countries stood by Pakistan. Many more countries stood by India," the Congress leader said.
Khurshid also emphasised that only terrorist camps were targeted during Operation Sindoor, that has not yet ended.
"We didn't attack any area of Pakistan except the terrorist camps, and we attacked them with precision. If they hadn't attacked us back, we would have stopped there, but they did attack us back, and when they attacked us back, what did we do? We neutralised the platforms they were using to attack us, so we neutralised their air bases... That sent the message clearly to them that you can't take India on, and they therefore said Please let's stop it and they've stopped. But we have to be careful, which is why the government very clearly said, we are not putting an end to the Operation Sindoor...," the Congress leader said.
Also, while stressing India's commitment to be Vishwa Guru, Khurshid remarked, "...We want to be Vishwa Guru, we want to be Vishwa Mitra - that's a huge responsibility. We have an enormous responsibility and therefore restraint... "
Khurshid said that the countries that "have suffered from terrorism have changed their attitude", adding, "But those countries that have been fortunate not to suffer the hands of terrorists continue to make these distinctions between militants and terrorists, freedom fighters and terrorists, and therefore it's very important that our narrative continues..."
Khurshid is a member of the all-party delegation led by JDU MP Sanjay Kumar Jha. The delegation will head to other East Asian countries as part of India's global outreach against terrorism.
The other members of the delegation are BJP MPs Aparajita Sarangi, Brij Lal, Pradhan Baruah, Hemang Joshi, CPI-M's John Brittas, AITC's Abhishek Banerjee, and Ambassador Mohan Kumar.
In a diplomatic outreach following Operation Sindoor, the Modi government has formed seven multi-party delegations to inform nations about Pakistan's links to terrorism, and India's strong message of zero-tolerance for terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.
Operation Sindoor was launched on May 7 as a decisive military response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack by Pak-sponsored terrorists 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-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen.