Shashi Tharoor-Led All-Party Delegation Meets US Vice President JD Vance
The All-Party Parliamentary Delegation led by Shashi Tharoor on Thursday had an "excellent meeting" with the United States Vice President J.D. Vance in Washington, briefing him about Operation Sindoor, terrorism faced by India and regional security.
"The All Party Parliamentary Delegation led by Dr. Shashi Tharoor called on Vice President J D Vance this morning. The conversation focused on strengthening the India-US partnership including cooperation in counter-terrorism domain," the Embassy of India in the United States posted on X.
The All Party Parliamentary Delegation led by Dr. @ShashiTharoor called on Vice President JD Vance @VP this morning. The conversation focused on strengthening the India - US partnership including cooperation in counter-terrorism domain. pic.twitter.com/No9qLbPr3I
— India in USA (@IndianEmbassyUS) June 5, 2025
"Excellent meeting with Vice President J D Vance today in Washington D.C. with our delegation. We had comprehensive discussions covering a wide array of critical issues, from counter-terrorism efforts to enhancing technological cooperation. A truly constructive and productive exchange for strengthening India-US strategic partnership, with a great meeting of minds," Tharoor also posted on X after the meeting.
Mr Vance was visiting India when the heinous Pahalgam terror attack took place on April 22.
In a strong message of support and solidarity, the US Vice-President had also called Prime Minister Narendra Modi to strongly condemn the terror attack and convey that the United States is ready to provide "all assistance" in the joint fight against terrorism.
"Usha and I extend our condolences to the victims of the devastating terrorist attack in Pahalgam, India. Over the past few days, we have been overcome with the beauty of this country and its people. Our thoughts and prayers are with them as they mourn this horrific attack," he had posted on X.
Earlier in the day, Mr Tharoor spoke with Ambassador Ken Juster at Council on Foreign Relations on India's fight against terrorism.
On Wednesday, the all party delegation met prominent members of the Indian diaspora in USA. The delegation spoke about India's resolute and united stand against terrorism and the new normal created by India through Operation Sindoor. The Indian diaspora members shared their message of solidarity with the victims of terrorism and support for India's fight against terrorism.
"Pleasure to host Chairman Shashi Tharoor and members of the Indian Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs. My colleagues and I expressed condolences for the terrorist attack in Pahalgam and reaffirmed Congress's commitment to the US-India partnership," said Gregory Meeks.
Later, the delegation interacted with members of the Indian and American Press Corps at the Embassy.
The delegation is engaging with members of the US Congress, US thinks tanks and media professionals to brief about Operation Sindoor, terrorism faced by India and regional security.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, delegation head and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said, "What we are seeking to do in every country is to explain our version of events, our experience of the last few weeks, to seek the solidarity and understanding of those we meet and speak to."
"I'm very pleased to say that so far, our batting average is over 100 -- in other words, every single person we have met so far has immediately not only condemned resolutely the terrorist attack upon India and expressed their outrage and their sympathy, but they have also explicitly endorsed India's right to defend itself against terrorism, and this kind of understanding has been most welcome."
Tharoor described the Pahalgam terror attack as an egregious disruption during a time of economic and social optimism in Kashmir.
"Kashmir was booming. Ordinary Kashmiris are benefiting from vast numbers of tourists coming in, putting money into their hands and their pockets. It was a lovely time. And here's this innocent group of holiday tourists on a dappled meadow in Kashmir being murdered in cold blood by people coming and asking their religion and shooting them between the eyes," he said.
"It really was a sickening outrage, and the nation rose as one to support whatever the government chose to do, and what the government chose to do in the end was what most of us would have wanted," he added.
He also explained India's calibrated military response and eventual ceasefire.
"If you were to go back and look at the briefings the government gave each morning, the message is very clear: we are hitting them because they are hitting us. If they stop, we'll stop. And after 88 hours, the Pakistani Director General of Military Operations reached out to his Indian counterpart and said, let's call it off. And we called it off," Tharoor said.
The delegation includes a diverse political mix, with members such as Shambhavi Choudhary of the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), Sarfaraz Ahmad of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Milind Murli Deora of the Shiv Sena, Bhubaneswar Kalita and Tejasvi Surya of the BJP, and GM Harish Balayogi of the Telugu Desam Party, a National Democratic Alliance partner.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
2 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Donald Trump says he heard India may stop buying oil from Russia: 'Good step'
US President Donald Trump on Saturday said that he had heard that India might no longer buy oil from Russia, though he acknowledged he was not certain about the claim. U.S. President Donald Trump waves as he arrives at Lehigh Valley International Airport in Allentown, Pennsylvania, U.S., August 1, 2025.(Reuters) "I understand that India is no longer going to be buying oil from Russia. That's what I heard, I don't know if that's right or not. That is a good step. We will see what happens," Trump told ANI. Trump's remarks come days after his tirade against India for buying Russian oil and the White House's decision to levy 25 per cent tariffs on all exports to America and an unspecified additional 'penalty' for purchasing Russian energy. In a post on Truth Social, Trump criticised India for maintaining the world's highest tariffs and 'obnoxious' trade barriers while continuing to buy Russian military equipment and energy during the Ukraine war. On Friday, external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal defended India's procurement of energy and defence hardware from Russia, saying New Delhi and Moscow have a 'steady and time-tested partnership'. 'India and the US share a comprehensive global strategic partnership anchored in shared interests, democratic values and robust people-to-people ties. This partnership has weathered several transitions and challenges,' Jaiswal said in response to several questions regarding Trump's tariff policy. Also Read | US sanctions 6 Indian companies for engaging in petroleum trade with Iran 'We remain focused on the substantive agenda that our two countries have committed to and are confident that the relationship will continue to move forward,' he said. He also pointed to the potential for growing the 'strong defence partnership' with the US and highlighted that India's ties with the US had overcome several challenges and New Delhi is committed to taking the relationship forward.
India Today
22 minutes ago
- India Today
Trump fires of labour stats chief after weak July jobs report release
US President Donald Trump on Friday (local time) ordered that the commissioner of the Labour Department's Bureau of Labour Statistics Erika McEntarfer be fired after data showed weaker-than-expected employment growth in July and massive downward revisions to the prior two months' job was nominated by former President Joe Biden to serve in the role in 2023 and was confirmed by the US Senate the following year. It was not immediately clear whether McEntarfer, whom Trump accused of faking the jobs numbers, had been took to his Truth Social account to inform about McEntarfer's firing. Trump announced the firing of McEntarfer over his Truth Social account Trump lambasted McEntarfer and accused her of producing fake job numbers. "We need accurate Jobs Numbers. I have directed my Team to fire this Biden Political Appointee, IMMEDIATELY. She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified," Trump is no proof that supports Trump's accusations about the BLS tampering with data. The BLS is the statistical agency responsible for creating the employment report, which is closely followed, as well as data on consumer and producer White House did not respond immediately to questions about Trump's to Reuters, Trump acccused McEntarfer of putting out the job numbers before the elections to help order to dismiss McEntarfer comes at a time when the Trump administration's mass layoffs of federal government workers have raised concerns about the quality of US economic data, long seen as the gold later posted: 'In my opinion, today's Jobs Numbers were RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad.'After his initial post, Labour Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said on X that McEntarfer was no longer leading the bureau and that William Wiatrowski, the deputy commissioner, would serve as the acting director.'I support the President's decision to replace Biden's Commissioner and ensure the American People can trust the important and influential data coming from BLS,' Chavez-DeRemer this year, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick disbanded two expert committees that worked with the government to produce economic statistics. Lutnick has also floated the idea of stripping out government spending from the gross domestic product report, claiming "governments historically have messed with GDP."CONCERNS OVER DATA INTEGRITYThe recent dismissal of a senior Bureau of Labour Statistics official has triggered a wave of concern among economists, public sector unions, and data transparency advocates, as Trump-aligned Republicans label the official a 'Biden holdover.'advertisementAmerican Federation of Government Employees national president Everett Kelley defended the integrity of the agency and its personnel. "The civil servants at BLS are not political actors. They are professionals committed to producing accurate, independent data, regardless of who is in power," said Kelley, noting that the ousted official, McEntarfer, had served across multiple administrations over more than two the Trump administration has not detailed the rationale behind the firing, allies have publicly supported the move, casting it as part of an effort to purge lingering Biden-era incident has prompted broader warnings about the politicisation of economic statistics. "Politicizing economic statistics is a self-defeating act," said Michael Madowitz, principal economist at the Roosevelt Institute's Roosevelt Forward. "Credibility is far easier to lose than rebuild, and the credibility of America's economic data is the foundation on which we've built the strongest economy in the world. Blinding the public about the state of the economy has a long track record, and it never ends well."Earlier this year, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick disbanded two advisory committees tasked with helping ensure the reliability of US economic statistics. He has also floated controversial changes to the calculation of GDP, suggesting that government spending should be excluded on the grounds that 'governments historically have messed with GDP.'advertisementMeanwhile, the BLS has scaled back data collection efforts for key reports, citing budget limitations. Sample sizes have been reduced for both consumer and producer price indexes. The monthly employment survey—which typically includes data from around 121,000 businesses and agencies covering more than 600,000 worksites—has seen its response rate fall from 80.3% in October 2020 to just 67.1% in multiple shifts in data practices underway and political tensions escalating, experts warn that the perceived impartiality of US economic data could be at OVERVIEW The BLS has already reduced data collection for the consumer price data as well as the producer price attributed the sharply slower job growth to Trump's trade and immigration policies. The economy created only 73,000 jobs in July. Data for May and June were revised sharply down to show 258,000 fewer jobs created than had been previously reported. As per a report by CNBC, Laura Ulrich, director of economic research for North America at job site Indeed said that the July figure suggests the job market isn't keeping pace with population growth, and is therefore contracting.- EndsWith inputs from agencies. advertisement
Indian Express
32 minutes ago
- Indian Express
MEA dials down Trump noise: India, US weathered challenges, focus on future
OVER 30 remarks crediting himself for the India-Pakistan ceasefire, referring to India as a 'dead economy,' dropping the 25% tariff bombshell and a Russia penalty even as talks are on — US President Donald Trump's diatribe was met Friday by diplomatic pragmatism from the Ministry of External Affairs. Underlining that the India-US partnership has 'weathered several transitions and challenges,' the MEA said that New Delhi will remain 'focused on the substantive agenda' even as it flagged that its friendship with Russia was 'time-tested.' This response came the day Trump unveiled sweeping new tariffs on dozens of countries including 25 per cent for goods from India. Responding to a question, MEA's official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said Friday: 'India and the United States share a comprehensive global strategic partnership anchored in shared interests, democratic values, and robust people-to-people ties. This partnership has weathered several transitions and challenges. We remain focused on the substantive agenda that our two countries have committed to and are confident that the relationship will continue to move forward.' Asked about India-US defence ties in the wake of reports of India refusing to consider F-35 fighter jets, the MEA spokesperson said, 'We have a strong defence partnership with the U.S. which has been strengthening over the last several years. There is potential for this partnership to grow further under the India-US COMPACT for the 21st century.' Responding to Trump's talk of a penalty on India for buying energy from Russia, Jaiswal said: 'In securing our energy needs, we are guided by what is on offer in the markets, and by the prevailing global circumstances.' Incidentally, this has been Delhi's position for the last three years, since the war in Ukraine broke out after the Russian invasion in February 2022. On Trump's tirade against India-Russia ties and that they are both 'dead economies', the MEA spokesperson said: 'Our bilateral relationships with various countries stand on their own merit and should not be seen from the prism of a third country. India and Russia have a steady and time-tested partnership.' On Trump's anger at India buying Russian defence equipment, he said, 'The sourcing of our defence requirements is determined solely by our national security imperatives and strategic assessments.' While India does depend on Russia for the defence supplies, much of it is because of the legacy from the Soviet Union era. Although the dependency is about 60 to 70 per cent, India has, in the past few years, steadily diversified its defence purchases from countries including the US. Yet, the framing by Trump — 'I don't care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care' — has been seen as offensive by many. While his criticism of India putting high tariffs has been a pet grievance from his first term — when he called India a 'tariff king' — the US President's latest statement described India's trade policies as 'most strenuous and obnoxious'. Trump's remarks deepen Delhi's diplomatic challenge when India and the US are negotiating a bilateral trade deal. There are two possible impulses that guide Trump's responses, according to Delhi's analysis. First, his negotiating style to browbeat and bully the adversary by imposing high tariffs and try and get the deal on his own terms. This has been seen with China, where he imposed 145 per cent tariffs and then dialled down to 35 – after talks in Geneva. Second, some in the Indian establishment feel that the US President has not taken very kindly to Delhi fact-checking Trump's claims on brokering a ceasefire. Not only has PM Narendra Modi conveyed this in the phone call with Trump on June 17, but Indian ministers and officials have repeatedly denied the claim. Despite not stating that President Trump is a 'liar' — as demanded by Congress leader and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi — the Indian government has forcefully contradicted the US President. But New Delhi feels that Trump's remarks threaten to undo the hard work made by the two countries as 'strategic partners' in a relationship that was framed as the 'defining partnership of the 21st century' by US President Barack Obama. South Block is, however, trying to not get drawn into an emotional and angry response, and is projecting restraint amid the US President's verbal tirade and social media blitzkrieg of epithets directed at India. While the Commerce ministry said it has 'taken note' of Trump's statement on bilateral trade and the Government is studying its implications, sources said that any response had to be shorn of emotion. 'India and the US have been engaged in negotiations on concluding a fair, balanced and mutually beneficial bilateral trade agreement over the last few months. We remain committed to that objective,' the Commerce ministry statement had said. Sources said that negotiators from both sides are in touch and they have to be immune from the noise. The diplomatic challenge is three-fold, sources said: how long can Delhi stand its ground against the US; whether India can engage with Trump's inner circle; and whether they can overcome the distrust fuelled by the Trump's comments in the long term. 'We will not get drawn into the tit-for-tat response with the US President, and our negotiators have been asked to not pay attention to Trump's unique style of public negotiations. Those are best left to be done away from the public gaze,' a source said. Shubhajit Roy, Diplomatic Editor at The Indian Express, has been a journalist for more than 25 years now. Roy joined The Indian Express in October 2003 and has been reporting on foreign affairs for more than 17 years now. Based in Delhi, he has also led the National government and political bureau at The Indian Express in Delhi — a team of reporters who cover the national government and politics for the newspaper. He has got the Ramnath Goenka Journalism award for Excellence in Journalism '2016. He got this award for his coverage of the Holey Bakery attack in Dhaka and its aftermath. He also got the IIMCAA Award for the Journalist of the Year, 2022, (Jury's special mention) for his coverage of the fall of Kabul in August 2021 — he was one of the few Indian journalists in Kabul and the only mainstream newspaper to have covered the Taliban's capture of power in mid-August, 2021. ... Read More
