Paris, May 26 (PTI) BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad led a closed-door discussion with representatives of leading think tanks in France on Monday at the start of his all-party delegation’s visit to Paris.
The former Union minister is leading a nine-member delegation to France, the first stop in a six-nation tour covering European capitals to highlight India’s zero-tolerance stance on terrorism following the Pahalgam terrorist attacks last month.
“France is a strategic partner to India and has strongly condemned the terrible terror attack in Pahalgam, has expressed full solidarity with India and also expressed support for India's fight against terrorism,” said Indian Ambassador to France Sanjeev Singla, in his introductory remarks at the meeting.
“In that context, we have the privilege of having with us a very distinguished delegation from India; parliamentarians from the length and breadth of the country, cutting across various domains,” he said.
Earlier, the delegation held a briefing at the Embassy of India in Paris to discuss the key messages to be conveyed during their exchange with think tanks, parliamentarians and community groups in France.
“Our whole focus is very clear: India wants peace and amity, but not at the cost of the lives of our innocent Indians,” Prasad told PTI ahead of the meetings.
“And if in the most barbaric manner Pahalgam happens, there will be a cost to it and the whole world needs to speak in one voice as far as terrorism is concerned. It's a global menace, a global cancer,” he said.
“Under Prime Minister Modi's leadership, if you keep on attacking with impunity, you have to pay a cost. And, Pakistan's attachment to terrorism is now completely removing the distinction between the state and the terrorist. The state of Pakistan, the deep state, is promoting terrorism as the instrument of state policy,” he said.
The multi-party delegation, the seventh group in an international outreach initiative following Operation Sindoor, includes MPs Daggubati Purandeswari, Priyanka Chaturvedi, Ghulam Ali Khatana, Dr Amar Singh, Samik Bhattacharya and M. Thambidurai and former Union minister M.J. Akbar and former Deputy National Security Advisor Ambassador Pankaj Saran.
From France, the delegation heads to Italy and goes on to cover the UK, Germany, Denmark and the European Union (EU).