Shashi Tharoor to lead high-profile US delegation to brief on Operation Sindoor; Milind Deora, Shambhavi Choudhary included

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor will lead a 10-member delegation from across parties to the US to brief on the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor, sources told ET.

The high-profile delegation includes Shashi Tharoor, Shambhavi Choudhary from the Lok Janshakti Party, Dr Sarfaraz Ahmed from Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Sudip Bandyopadhyay of Trinamool Congress, Telugu Desam Party's Ganti Harish Madhur Balayogi, BJP's Shri Shashank Mani Tripathi and⁠ Bhubaneswar Kalita, Shiv Sena's Milind Deora and two non-politicians, including Taranjit Singh Sandhu, Former Ambassador of India to the USA and ⁠Dr Varun Jeph, Director (IOR) - Liaison Officer for the delegation.

However, according to PTI sources, Bandyopadhyay has refused to join the delegation because of health concerns.


The Indian government had earlier announced seven all-party groups of MPs, each having at least five parliamentarians from across parties and a senior diplomat, to address in various countries about the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor.

The delegations will depart on May 21-22 to countries like the US, UK, EU, Russia, Japan, South Africa and West Asia among others.

The senior diplomats will assist MPs during their presentations. The list includes former foreign secretary HV Shringla, former Indian envoys to France, Jawed Ashraff and Mohan Kumar, and former envoy to Japan, Sujan Chinoy.

Former External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid will lead a delegation to south and southeast Asia, covering countries such as South Korea, Japan and Singapore. JDU MP Sanjay Jha and Shringla will also be part of the delegation.

Supriya Sule (NCPSP) and Shrikant Shinde (Shiv Sena) are leading a delegation each. Sule's delegation includes Rajiv Pratap Rudy (BJP), Anurag Thakur (BJP), Manish Tewari (Congress), Brij Lal (BJP) and Tejaswi Surya (BJP).

Asaduddin Owaisi (AIMIM) will also be part of a delegation. DMK leader Kanimozhi is leading the delegation to Russia. RJD MP Prem Chand Gupta is in her team.

Former J&K CM Ghulam Nabi Azad is likely to lead the delegation visiting UK, France, Germany and EU headquarters in Brussels.

BJP's RS Prasad is likely to lead a delegation to West Asia, including Saudi Arabia. Samajwad MP Rajeev Kumar Rai is also part of a delegation.

Trinamool MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay has also been invited, but he has informed that he is not fit to travel such a long distance.