Jakarta [Indonesia], May 29 (ANI): TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, who is part of the all-party delegation, led by JD(U) MP Sanjay Kumar Jha, called out Pakistan for supporting and nurturing terrorists to destabilise growing economies. He mentioned about involvement of Pakistan-based terrorists in the 9/11 attacks, 26/11 Mumbai attacks, and 2006 Bombay train bombings and said that 'if terrorism is a rabid dog, Pakistan is the vile handler.'

While addressing a press conference in Jakarta, he stated that India waited for two weeks before launching Operation Sindoor to see whether Pakistan would act against terrorists or not. He also recalled how India allowed Pakistani officials to visit the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot to investigate the Pathankot terror attack.

Banerjee said, 'They (Pakistan) are the ones who have been nurturing terrorists in their backyard to destabilise growing economies. All of you are acquainted with the fact that India has surpassed Japan and grown to be the fourth-largest economy in the world. We are at number four now, and very soon we will be at number three. So it's a prime, I would say, example of cutting one's nose to spite one's face. We go down, we pull you down. Pakistan is facing a crisis in their economy, trying to address issues in its land, in their own country, and India is growing, developing rapidly, and we have been collaborating with various countries. We consider each one of you as our strategic partners, as our friendly nations.'

'We share a common goal, a joint goal towards peace, prosperity, and we consider each one of you not only as our strategic partners, but also as one of our moral allies. We want you to stand for what is correct. We want this to be raised in the important multilateral platforms like FATF, UN, ASEAN, and if you look at the net and if you read the circulation that has been published worldwide in the last fortnight, you know India never slid back immediately,' he added.

Elaborating on how India launched Operation Sindoor, he said, 'The attack happened on the 22nd of April. Did we strike on the 23rd? No. Did we strike on the 24th? No. Did we strike on the 26th? No. 28th? No 30th? No 1st? No. We waited for two weeks, 14 days we waited with the hope that the Pakistan government would do something to bring the popular leaders to book and do justice to the enemies. Either you do justice to the enemies, or your enemies need to be acquainted with justice, but justice needs to be done. We waited for two weeks, and then eventually India carried out this airstrike. So, these airstrikes were so precise, non-escalatory, and responsible, and these airstrikes only ended up neutralising and demolishing nine terror infrastructures. We neutralised the terror infrastructure without endangering a single civilian life, that is, India. We are firm in resolve, yet honourable in action.'

He called out Pakistani generals for attending the funerals of terrorists. He mentioned about presence of terrorists in Pakistan, including Al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden, who was killed by the US forces in Abbottabad.

He said, 'I mean, then in the next 24 hours, there were images surfacing from the land of Pakistan that shook the world. There were images of Pakistani or Pakistani high-ranking military generals and the army, and these are not mere pawns, or these are not some small-time officials. They are military generals. Pakistani army generals were seen attending the funeral of terrorists, these pictures are widely reported it's for everyone to see. You know when the 9/11 terror attack was, when the 9/11 terror attack happened, who was the prime accused? Osama bin Laden. Where was he found? He was found in a place called Abbottabad. Where is Abbottabad? Abbottabad is again in Pakistan.'

'You talk about the 2006 Bombay train bombings. You talk about the 2008 Mumbai attacks, you talk about the 1993 Mumbai blasts, where a series of blasts were conducted. In every terror attack, there was a hand of Pakistan. Where was Ajmal Kasab, who is the prime accused of the 2008 terror attack, from? He was caught red-handed by the Indian law enforcement agencies in Mumbai. There were four years during which he was given a fair trial. He confessed to the law enforcement agencies. He confessed before the trial court, before the judiciary that he was raised, he was born, he was brought up, was nurtured, and he was trained in Pakistan and India ended up destroying that very same terror camp where Ajmal Kasab was raised and trained. We want the world to stand by us in combating terrorism. It's our joint duty.'

Calling out Pakistan for supporting terrorists, he said, 'You talk about Hafiz Saeed, talk about Tahawwur Rana, any terrorist you name, Pakistan is safeguarding them, nurturing them, protecting them. Why? I mean it's like nurturing a snake in your backyard expecting it to bite your neighbour. But, we don't realise when the snake will be unleashed or unchained, it can end up biting anyone. It meets on the way. I have said this time and again, and I will put it again in a different analogy. If terrorism is a rabid dog, Pakistan is a vile handler. Pakistan will end up raising, breeding more rabid dogs till it starts a lesson in the language it understands, and we are not talking about violence here.'

Noting that West thinks that India has not initiated a dialogue, he said that India has been talking with Pakistan for the past 50 years, and everything has changed in India, like governments, presidents, prime ministers, however, the conflict continues with Pakistan.

'People in the West think that we have not started or initiated a dialogue with Pakistan. We have been talking with them for the last 50 years, you know, the government has changed in India, and a lot of things have changed. There have been paradigm shifts in everything. Prime Ministers have come and gone. The government has changed. The President of the country has changed. But one thing that will remain constant is the conflict with Pakistan. They will not change, and we expect all of you to stand by us in combating terrorism. Our stand has been very clear from day one. You fire, we fire. You stop, we stop. We don't want violence,' he said.

He said that India has not initiated a war and has been engaging in dialogue with Pakistan for the past 50 years. He recalled how India allowed Pakistani officials to come to India for a joint investigation following the Pathankot terror attack and gave them proof of all data, digital evidence.

He said, 'In the last 50 years, there have been so many incidents of violence, and I want to request all of you that India will never want to wage or start a war. We're the last ones to talk about war. We have been engaging in a dialogue with them. In 2016, there were attacks in Pathankot and Uri. It's again a place in Kashmir. Pakistan wanted to start a joint investigation. We honoured that commitment. But when you give or honour that commitment of a joint investigation with Pakistan, we give them enough proof of call data, records of the terrorist, voice sample, and digital evidence. But, it's like giving a thief the privilege to investigate a robbery which he only has committed,' he added.

Urging Indonesia to stand by India in the fight against terrorism, he said, 'I would leave it to that and I would request every one of you to stand by us as strategic partners in combating terrorism and curtailing terrorism so that we can put an end to this menace once and for all.'

During the same press conference, former Indian Ambassador Mohan Kumar called out Pakistan for claiming to have won wars against India despite facing defeat. He even recalled Pakistan army chief General Asim Munir's statement before the Pahalgam terrorist attack.

'As far as we are concerned, we want to maintain peace. The Director General, Military Operations of both sides are in touch, and that conversation will continue. But if you want to work with us, kindly provide us proof that you are done with terrorism, and that is something we haven't been able to verify. If there is verifiable action by Pakistan that cross-border terrorism will cease, we're happy to do whatever it takes to have good relations with them because I just want all of you, I think the ...diplomatic will understand, for India, Pakistan has to be a side show,' he said.

'We want to be the fourth largest, hopefully the third largest want to lift people out of poverty, hopefully be a five trillion ten trillion economy and make the transition from balancing power to leading power. This is not our main objective. But if you read the army chief's statement a week before the attacks, he makes it very clear that Kashmir is the jugular vein of Pakistan. You can see where he's coming from; the raison d'etre for Pakistan's army is enmity with India, otherwise they lose all clout. The Pakistan army was extremely unpopular, including the chief, for putting Imran Khan in jail, etc., etc., just before the conflict. Right now, he's the most popular guy in the world. Why? Because he's rallied the whole nation around India, the news is blacked out, they say we won. In 1971, too, Pakistan said it won. So there is a history of, you know, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat or whatever you want to call it,' he added.

Mohan Kumar said that India's message against terrorism will resonate with Indonesia. According to him, India's right to defend itself against terrorism was appreciated and endorsed by Indonesia.

[{4b15c987-3184-4945-b0a9-1027a0a14fb5:intradmin/ANI-20250529085907.jpg}]

He said, 'I think you have to see it in this context. Why Indonesia? We think India is a mirror image of Indonesia. In many ways, we look up to Indonesia. It's a great country with plurality, all religions. It's the largest Muslim country. We are the second largest. We think our message will resonate with Indonesia. I will allow the honourable members of parliament to tell you how the conversation went, but from my perspective, there was strong condemnation of terrorism, ...sympathy expressed with the victims and with India, and I think India's right to defend itself against terrorism was appreciated and endorsed.'

The delegation, led by JD-U MP Sanjay Kumar Jha, includes Aparajita Sarangi (BJP), TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, Brij Lala (BJP), John Brittas (CPI-M), Pradan Baruah (BJP), Hemang Joshi (BJP), Salman Khurshid (Congress) and former Ambassador Mohan Kumar.

The delegation is visiting many countries as part of India's global outreach against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. The delegation has so far visited Japan, South Korea, and Singapore. (ANI)