Colombia withdraws statement on Pakistan casualties after Indian diplomatic intervention
New Delhi: In a diplomatic win for India’s global campaign against terrorism, Colombia has withdrawn its earlier statement expressing condolences to Pakistan following Operation Sindoor. The retraction came after a strong intervention from an Indian parliamentary delegation led by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.
During a press conference in Bogotá on Thursday, Tharoor voiced India's disappointment over Colombia's initial response. The statement had expressed sympathy for Pakistani casualties without acknowledging the victims of the recent terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir.
“We were a little disappointed in the reaction of the Colombian government, which apparently expressed heartfelt condolences on the loss of lives in Pakistan after the Indian strikes, rather than sympathising with the victims of terrorism,” Tharoor said.
He emphasized India’s position unequivocally: “There can be no equivalence between those who dispatch terrorists and those who resist them. We are only exercising our right of self-defence, and we are here to dispel any misunderstanding about that.”
Following a meeting with Colombia’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Rosa Yolanda Villavicencio, the Indian delegation was informed that the Colombian government had reviewed and retracted the earlier statement.
Speaking to ANI, Villavicencio said that Colombia had now received detailed information about the Kashmir situation and would continue diplomatic dialogue with India.
Tharoor welcomed the diplomatic correction, stating, “The Vice Minister very graciously mentioned that they have withdrawn the statement that we had expressed concern about and that they fully understand our position on the matter, which is something we really value.”
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Tharoor wrote: “Began today with an excellent meeting with the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia, Rosa Yolanda Villavicencio, and her senior colleagues dealing with the Asia-Pacific. I expressed India's view of recent events and voiced disappointment at Colombia's statement on 8 May, conveying 'heartfelt condolences' to Pakistan. The Minister assured me that the statement had been withdrawn and that our position was now properly understood and strongly supported.”
The Indian parliamentary delegation, which has already visited Panama and Guyana, arrived in Colombia on Thursday. Their diplomatic tour will continue in Brazil and the United States, as part of India’s broader mission to consolidate global support for its zero-tolerance policy on terrorism.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
