4 hours ago
Last Updated:May 19, 2025, 17:12 IST
Only one of Congress’s suggested names made it to the final list; all delegations include at least one Muslim member and several former ministers.
In a bipartisan move, 59 Indian political leaders will visit 32 countries to convey New Delhi’s stance on terrorism following the Pahalgam attack and Operation Sindoor. (IMAGE: PTI)
As part of a wide-ranging diplomatic initiative following Operation Sindoor, 59 Indian political leaders, including sitting MPs, former ministers and leaders from across party lines, will travel to 32 countries and the European Union headquarters in Brussels.
The effort, led by the government, is aimed at conveying the country’s position on cross-border terrorism and building international consensus in its aftermath. It comes in the wake of the terror attack in Pahalgam and the subsequent Indian strikes on terror bases sheltered by the Pakistani Army under the ongoing Operation Sindoor counter-terror operations.
The seven delegations are made up of leaders from both the ruling NDA and opposition parties, signaling political unity on a matter of national security. Each team has seven to eight members and is supported by senior former diplomats.
| DELEGATION LEADER | MEMBERS | DESTINATION |
| Baijayant Panda (BJP) | Nishikant Dubey, Phangnon Konyak, Rekha Sharma (BJP), Asaduddin Owaisi (AIMIM), Satnam Sandhu (nominated), Ghulam Nabi Azad (ex-minister and Congress), Harsh Shringla (former foreign secy). | Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Algeria |
| Ravi Shankar Prasad (BJP) | Daggubatti Purandeswari (BJP), Priyanka Chaturvedi (SS-UBT), Ghulam Nabi Khatana (nominated), Amar Singh (Congress), Samik Bhattacharya (BJP), MJ Akbar (ex-minister), Pankaj Saran (ex-diplomat). | United Kingdom, France, Germany, the EU, Italy, Denmark |
| Sanjay Kumar Jha (JDU) | Aparajita Sarangi (BJP), Yusuf Pathan (AITMC), Brij Lal (BJP), John Brittas (CPI-M), Pradan Barua (BJP), Hemang Joshi (BJP), Salman Khurshid (ex-minister and Congress), Mohan Kumar (ex-diplomat) | Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, Japan, Singapore |
| Shrikant Eknath Shinde (Shiv Sena) | Bansuri Swaraj (BJP), E T Mohammed Basheer (IUML), Atul Garg (BJP), Sasmit Patra (BJD), Manan Kumar Mishra (BJP), SS Ahluwalia, Sujan Chinoy (ex-diplomat) | UAE, Liberia, Congo, Sierra Leone |
| Shashi Tharoor (Congress) | Shambhavi (LJP-RV), Sarfaraz Ahmed (JMM), G M Harish Balayogi (TDP), Shashank Mani Tripathi (BJP), Bhubaneshwar Kalita (BJP), Milind Deora (Shiv Sena), Tejasvi Surya (BJP), Taranjit Sandhu (ex-diplomat) | US, Panama, Guyana, Colombia, Brazil |
| Kanimozhi Karunanidhi (DMK) | Rajeev Rai (SP), Mian Altaf Ahmad (NC), Brijesh Chowta (BJP), Prem Chand Gupta (RJD), Ashok Kumar Mittal (AAP), Manjeev Puri and Jawed Ashraf (ex-diplomats) | Spain, Greece, Slovenia, Latvia, Russia |
| Supriya Sule (NCP) | Rajeev Pratap Rudy (BJP), Vikramjit Sahney (AAP), Manish Tewari (Congress), Anurag Thakur (BJP), Lavu SriKrishna Devarayalu (TDP), V Muraleedharan and Anand Sharma (ex-ministers), Syed Akbaruddin (ex-diplomat) | Egypt, Qatar, Ethiopia, South Africa |
Congress MP from Kerala Shashi Tharoor, who will be visiting Guyana, Panama, Colombia, Brazil and the US, said while speaking to news agency ANI that his delegation will leave soon and that some delegations have left.
“The briefing for my delegation is going to be only on Friday. So, honestly, I am not going to say anything right now. Some of the teams are leaving earlier and that’s why they need to have their meeting tomorrow. But our delegation is leaving a bit later because the US has a big Memorial Day weekend and the Congress in the US is not in session until June 2. So, there is no point in arriving there too early. So, we are arriving later and leaving later," he said.
Out of the 59 leaders, 31 are from the NDA, while 20 represent non-NDA parties. The government has said that the primary goal is to communicate India’s resolve to act against terrorism and to strengthen global engagement on this front.
Only one of the four names proposed by the Congress — Anand Sharma — is part of the final list of delegates. Gaurav Gogoi, Syed Naseer Hussain, and Amrinder Singh Raja Warring did not make the cut.
Alongside Shashi Tharoor, Congress leaders Manish Tewari, Amar Singh, and Salman Khurshid are also part of the seven delegations.
Each of the seven delegations includes at least one Muslim member.
The delegations also feature several former union ministers who are no longer in Parliament, including Ghulam Nabi Azad, MJ Akbar, Anand Sharma, V Muraleedharan, Salman Khurshid and SS Ahluwalia.
Location : First Published:News india 59 Politicians To Visit 32 Countries With India’s Anti-Terror Message, A List Of Who’s Going Where
