The seven-member all-party delegation from India is continuing its tour to convince the world about the conflict with Pakistan and India's strong stance against terrorism. The aim of the tour is to convince other countries that India will not tolerate terrorism; Pakistan will have to pay a price for cross-border terrorist activities, and to mobilize global support for collective action against all forms of terrorism. This has been clarified by the Ministry of External Affairs. The delegations, reflecting the country's general unity, include 59 people from different political parties - 31 from the ruling coalition and 20 from opposition parties, along with a few former diplomats. The 33 countries visited by these seven teams include members of the UN Security Council and members of the European Union. The tour is an attempt to improve India's image globally and garner support for our stand against Pakistan. Some of the achievements have already been reported. Of these, the 'change of mind' of Columbia brought about by the Shashi Tharoor-led team has received much media attention. The change that occurred is that Colombia, which had issued a statement expressing condolences over the deaths of Pakistanis in India's military action in Pakistan in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack, withdrew that statement.
Even a small victory is welcome, but it is important to examine the expected results of such a large and expensive exercise. Most effective diplomatic exercises are not spectacular news productions carried out in the media spotlight but quiet exchanges of ideas and substantive discussions. The number of supporters of our position can be increased by visiting not only countries that have already declared their agreement with India's position but also those that disagree with it. Turkey, for example, has been the target of India's anger for showing closeness to Pakistan. If that country, a member of the European Union and NATO, had been isolated from Pakistan, there would have been no need to limit the joy at Colombia withdrawing its statement of condolences. But there is no way we can visit Turkey. We still need to master the diplomacy of dealing with opposing countries. It is a fact that China is helping Pakistan by providing weapons systems. The Foreign Minister himself expressed his anger at this openly to a German newspaper. At the same time, we are ready to hold high-level talks with China, which provides Pakistan with much more aid than Turkey. There are indications that Prime Minister Modi will hold talks with Chinese Premier Xi in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, next month; if it does, it will be a good example of diplomacy. There is no substitute for dialogue.
Diplomacy should have goals beyond satisfying loyal political politics. Those who examine our foreign relations will find many shortcomings. Even though we opposed the resolution to provide financial assistance to Pakistan after Pahalgam in the IMF, not a single country supported us. Even though Narendra Modi visited around 200 countries as Prime Minister, the concern about who will be with us at the crucial juncture is not misplaced. Most of our neighbouring countries are not with us. Reports suggest that only the middle-level leaderships of the respective countries were there to meet the high-level delegations that are currently touring foreign countries. Top-level policymakers will normally rely on their own embassies in India while making decisions. And they will not fail to consider the democratic and human rights situation here while assessing our stance on ‘all forms of terrorism’. There is no better strategy to convince the world than to have a firm commitment to human values and demonstrate it in action both at home and abroad. Even Israel is now beginning to realize through experience the limitations of mere lobbying that is out of sync with reality. The reason why that country, which has been experimenting with all dimensions of lobbying to great effect, is now isolated in the eyes of the world community is not because lobbying is bad but because it is hollow. They are not a role model for us.