"Meetings in South Korea fruitful, India conveyed its concerns": CPI (M)'s John Brittas

Seoul [South Korea], May 26 (ANI): CPI (M) MP John Brittas, who is part of the all-party delegation led by JD(U) MP Sanjay Kumar Jha, said on Monday that they met with South Korea's foreign minister, vice foreign minister, and parliamentarians and termed the meetings "fruitful" as India conveyed its concerns with the leaders.

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While speaking to ANI, Brittas said that South Korea has a lot of apprehensions about nuclear weapons. However, India made it clear that it is a responsible nation and has declared its intent of not using them as a first resort.

"South Korea is in the midst of the presidential elections. Even then, the South Korean establishment has received us with so much of warmth and cordiality. And we had hectic engagements in Seoul. We had a meeting with the foreign minister, the vice foreign minister, the standing committee chairman of the defence, the Indo-South Korea friendship, and a couple of members of the parliament, that is the National Council, and also a section of a think tank, industrial houses. It was a very fruitful meeting in the sense that we could convey India's concerns," he said.

"And they had their own concerns because the geo-politics of this region, the nation has a lot of apprehensions with regard to nuclear weapons. So, we made it very clear that India is a responsible country. We have always declared our intent of not using nuclear weapons as a first resort, and we also said that we had gone miles to make sure that there is peace in our region. Still, since Pakistan is not cooperating and terrorism has been brought in as part of the statecraft, it is impossible to tread ahead. As part of the Security Council, South Korea is one of the members, so it's very important that we have their support. Also, they have promised that they would certainly appreciate India's concerns. So it has been a very fruitful meeting, and though it's a small section, the Indian community also had come into interaction with us," he added.

The delegation, comprising MPs from the BJP, JD(U), CPI-M, AITC, and Congress, met senior officials and legislators, including the Chairman of the Defence Affairs Committee, Vice Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, members of the India-Korea Parliamentary Friendship Group, and the first vice foreign minister. The delegation led by JD(U) MP Sanjay Kumar Jha also met South Korea's Foreign Minister.

Earlier, Indian Ambassador to South Korea, Amit Kumar, said that there is a growing understanding in South Korea that free countries and democracies need to unite in the fight against terrorism.

In an interview with ANI on Monday, the envoy noted that South Korea had "issued a very strong condemnation of the terrorist attack in Pahalgam" on April 22, in which 26 civilians were killed. "They were very clear about the fact that terrorism cannot be justified in any form. It cannot be condoned," he added.

The delegation, comprising MPs from the BJP, JD(U), CPI-M, AITC, and Congress, met senior officials and legislators, including the Chairman of the Defence Affairs Committee, Vice Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, members of the India-Korea Parliamentary Friendship Group, and the first vice foreign minister.

The delegation led by JD(U) MP Sanjay Kumar Jha also interacted with the foreign minister."I think there was a good set of discussions. Understanding from the Korean side also that free countries need to unite against the menace of terrorism," the envoy said.

Referring to meetings held during the delegation's visit, Kumar said, "In our interactions with them, including during the visit of this parliamentary delegation, I see that there has been an understanding of our position. They have acknowledged the action, which was responsible and restrained."

"We also had a very extensive exchange of views with representatives from the think tank community here and a few other eminent dignitaries and media. We also met the Indian diaspora," he added.

Kumar said the delegation clearly articulated India's new national security posture. "The all-party delegation... was very clear in articulating a new security doctrine, which has been laid out by the Prime Minister, on how we are going to deal with terrorism in future. If there is a terrorist attack, it will invite our response," he said.

He also noted that "we are not going to make a distinction between terrorists and the states that provide support to them. We could not be subject to nuclear blackmail."

The all-party delegation aims to project India's national consensus and firm stance on combating terrorism in all its forms.

Operation Sindoor was launched early on May 7 as a decisive military response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack by terrorists in which 26 people were killed and several others were injured.

Indian Armed Forces targeted terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, leading to the death of over 100 terrorists. India and Pakistan have agreed to stop military action following a call made by Pakistan's DGMO to his Indian counterpart. (ANI)

(The story has come from a syndicated feed and has not been edited by the Tribune Staff.)