Ljubljana [Slovenia], May 27 : DMK MP Kanimozhi, leader of an all-party delegation aimed at exposing Pakistan's support for terrorism, expressed confidence that Slovenia will stand with India against global terrorism and support India at the United Nations Security Council.
In a press conference on Monday, MP Kanimozhi said, "Slovenia is a very strong supporter and they have been advocating peace and have always stood against acts of terrorism... We go back with a positive feeling that Slovenia will stand with us against global terrorism and they will stand with India when it comes to the UNSC, when discussions will be taken about what India expects. India wants accountability. We have made it very clear that we cannot go to the negotiating table and resolve this conflict unless there is accountability. We cannot differentiate between a state that sponsors terrorism and individuals who carry out these acts... Today, when we meet lawmakers and opinion makers, they know what is happening, but when a delegation comes and presents facts to them, they get a deeper understanding of what we are going through"
"Slovenia is a very strong supporter and they have been advocating peace and have always stood against acts of terrorism... We go back with a positive feeling that Slovenia will stand with us against global terrorism and they will stand with India when it comes to the UNSC, when discussions will be taken about what India expects. India wants accountability," Kanimozhi added.
Stressing again on accountability, she said that India cannot differentiate between a state that sponsors terrorism and individuals who carry out these acts.
"We have made it very clear that we cannot go to the negotiating table and resolve this conflict unless there is accountability. We cannot differentiate between a state that sponsors terrorism and individuals who carry out these acts," she said.
"Today, when we meet lawmakers and opinion makers, they know what is happening, but when a delegation comes and presents facts to them, they get a deeper understanding of what we are going through," she stated.
The delegation leader further expressed happiness over visiting the country, highlighting how the bilateral partnership between India and Slovenia is fast developing in trade, investment, education, research, technology, culture, and people-to-people ties.
"We are visiting Slovenia to engage with leaders and opinion makers and present India's national position on the issue of countering terrorism in the wake of the recent events which have taken place in India," she said.
Criticising Pakistan for its reputation for being a haven of terrorists, she remarked, "Pakistan also has a well-deserved reputation as a haven for terrorists from across the world with internationally proscribed terrorists enjoying immunity there".
Kanimozhi further highlighted that the Pahalgam terror attack, which killed 26 people, including a Nepali national, had the most "significant number of civilian casualties since the 26/11 Mumbai attacks."
Meanwhile, other members of the delegation also highlighted their meeting with leaders during their diplomatic visit.
AAP MP Ashok Kumar Mittal told ANI, "We had meetings at three different places in Slovenia. One at PMO, second at their Parliament and a third at their Foreign Ministry. Something that we have told them clearly is that India has never supported extremism, India never attempted to bring extremism to any country. But Pakistan brought extremism to India's soil."
"Pakistan has been attempting since 1947 to bring extremism to India. They did this in Punjab in the 1980s, it has been doing this in J&K continuously. Peace returned to J&K, tourism prospered and infrastructure projects poured in there, Govt of India funded them with open heart," he added.
He claimed that Pakistan did not like the development happening in Kashmir, which was the reason for the Pahalgam attack, which they conveyed to Slovenian leaders too.
"We tried to tell Slovenia's leadership the intent behind this. to impact the economic activity there, the tourism there, so that people become unemployed and turn against the Govt of India. Second, they identified and killed Hindus. So that enmity rises between Hindus and Muslims," the AAP MP said.
Talking about India's response to Pakistan's aggression, he added, "Despite that, India gave a chance to Pakistan to take concrete steps against terrorists. But they did nothing...So, what could we have done? We destroyed terrorist camps and terrorists. We didn't harm their civilians...But Pakistan military launched an attack and so we had to retaliate. We retaliated with restraint, it was targeted and precise."
Samajwadi Party MP Rajeev Rai, another member said, "We are happy that whether it was Russia or Slovenia, everybody is with us as far as terrorism is concerned. They are with us in fight against terrorism. Only thing is, these countries advised us to go for talks, peace. I told them that our land is the land of Buddha, land of Gandhi. Our principle is non-violence."
Rai further said the Chief of Pakistani army is also the "chief of terrorist camps."
"If you want to talk to them, whole world should accept that the biggest terrorist gang is Pakistan Army. Chief of Pakistan Army is the Chief of terrorist camps, of all terrorist organisations. He (Asim Munir) has terrorised his own PM so much that he got decorated as the Field Marshal," he said.
Earlier, the delegation, led by Kanimozhi, called on the Secretary General of Slovenia's Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Barbara Zvokelj, conveying India's resolute stance of zero-tolerance towards terrorism and the 'new normal' of Operation Sindoor.
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