Shashi Tharoor-led Indian delegation surrounded, heckled in Washington

The all-party delegation of Indian parliamentarians, led by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, was surrounded and heckled by Sikh protestors in Washington.

New Delhi has dispatched multiple all-party delegations worldwide in an attempt to mislead the international community and spread false propaganda against Pakistan.

Tharoor-led delegation, which arrived from India in New York on May 24, had travelled to Guyana, Panama, Colombia and Brazil before landing in Washington on Tuesday on the last leg of its tour.

Videos posted on social media showed protesters waving flags of a Sikh separatist movement, raising slogans and heckling Tharoor and other leaders when they reached the parking area of the National Press Building in Washington, DC.

Following the incident, the Indian delegation avoided to interact with media and sought the police help.

The delegation, which arrived from India in New York on May 24, had travelled to Guyana, Panama, Colombia and Brazil before arriving in Washington on Tuesday afternoon for the last leg of the tour.

It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan’s former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari-led nine-member high-level parliamentary delegation also reached New York and presented his country’s message of “peace with dignity and equality" at the United Nations (UN). During his two-day visit, Bilawal forcefully presented Pakistan’s stance on the recent military confrontation with India and challenged New Delhi’s narrative at the international level.

The diplomatic initiatives by both Pakistan and India come after the two nuclear-armed neighbours carried out cross-border attacks against each other in the aftermath of the Pahalgam incident — where 26 tourists were killed in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir's (IIOJK) — after which New Delhi launched airstrikes inside Pakistan prompting the latter to retaliate via Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos.

Pakistan downed six IAF fighter jets, including three Rafale, and dozens of drones. After at least 87 hours, the war between the two nuclear-armed nations ended on May 10 with a ceasefire agreement brokered by the United States.