Report Card: How Successful Has India's Op Sindoor Outreach Been?
The Quint digs deeper into the seniority of officials they met, social media impact, and local media coverage.
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A majority of the seven all-party delegations dispatched following Operation Sindoor and the India-Pakistan conflict to explain New Delhi's position on Pakistan-sponsored terrorism have crossed the halfway marks of their trips abroad.
A total of seven delegations were dispatched, comprising 59 members – 31 from the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and 20 from Opposition parties, among former diplomats – to visit a total of 32 countries.
Group 1
Group 1 of the government's diplomatic outreach is being led by BJP MP Baijayant Jay Panda and includes:
AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi
BJP MP Phangnon Konyak MP
BJP MP Rekha Sharma
Nominated MP Satnam Singh Sandhu
Ex-J&K CM Ghulam Nabi Azad
Former Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla
The countries that Group 1 are visiting include:
Bahrain
Kuwait
Saudi Arabia
Algeria (Yet to visit)
1. Bahrain
Seniority of officials: In Bahrain, the senior-most officials the delegation met were the country's deputy prime minister Shaikh Khalid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa and minister of Parliamentary Affairs Ghanem bin Fadhl Al Buainain on 25 May after addressing a press conference on the previous day.
Social media: While each member of the Indian delegation as well as the Indian Embassy in Bahrain tweeted about the meeting with the country's officials, Bahrain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not post anything on their official social media handles regarding the meeting with the Indian delegation.
Local media coverage: Further, there was no extensive coverage of the Indian delegation's visit in Bahrain's news outlets.
The state-run Bahrain News Agency did a short report on the visit and stated that deputy PM Al Khalifa "underscored Bahrain’s stance on regional and international issues, emphasising the Kingdom’s commitment to peace, dialogue, and diplomacy as a civilised means to resolve conflicts, and its rejection of all forms of violence".
Similarly, other top news outlets like The Daily Tribune Bahrain and Gulf Daily News published a short news story on the delegation's visit.
2. Kuwait
Seniority of officials: Following Bahrain, Group 1 travelled to Kuwait where they met with the country's Deputy Prime Minister Sherida Abdullah Saad Al-Maousherji. The delegation also met with representatives of the Kuwait-based think tank Reconnaissance Research as well as members of the country's royal family, former ministers, academics et al.
Social media: Just like Bahrain, while the X handles of individual members of the Indian delegation as well the Indian Embassy in Kuwait were replete with tweets regarding the group's meetings, the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not post about the Indian delegation's visit on their social media handles.
Local media coverage: Meanwhile, some Kuwait-based media outlets published short news stories on the press conference addressed by members of Group 1.
The Kuwait Times quoted the group's leader Baijayant Jay Panda as saying, "We have no hostility toward the Pakistani people. But we are ready to build constructive relations only if Pakistan adopts a strategy based on peace and mutual respect."
Similarly, the state-run Kuwait News Agency stated that the Indian delegation were on a four-country tour, including Kuwait, but did not mention the purpose behind the visit or Pakistan's backing of terror outfits.
3. Saudi Arabia
Seniority of officials: In Saudi Arabia, the Indian delegation were received by the country's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir on 28 May. They also met with Abdulrahman Alharbi, chair of the Saudi-India Friendship Committee, and Mishaal Al-Sulami, Vice-President of the Shura Council.
Social media: While several Saudi officials who met the Indian delegation are not on social media, the country's Foreign Ministry took to X to announce the delegation's visit.
Local media coverage: While the state-run Saudi Press Agency and Saudi Gazette published a news report on the visit, other leading outlets in the country such as Arab News and Al Arabia gave it a miss.
Group 2
Group 2 of the government's diplomatic outreach is being led by BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad and includes:
TDP MP Daggubati Purandeswari
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi
Nominated MP Ghulam Ali Khatana
Congress MP Amar Singh
BJP MP Samik Bhattacharya
MP MJ Akbar
Former Ambassador to Russia Pankaj Saran
The countries that Group 2 are visiting include:
France
Italy
Germany (Yet to visit)
UK (Yet to visit)
EU headquarters in Belgium (Yet to visit)
Denmark (Yet to visit)
1. France
Seniority of officials: The seniormost officials they met were M Thierry Tesson, president of India-France Friendship Group in the National Assembly, and Jacqueline Eustache-Brinio, the group's vice president. The delegation landed in Paris on 26 May and met with France-based think tanks. The next day they interacted with the Indian diaspora in the country.
When asked about the issue at hand during his meeting with the Indian delegation, Nesson told news agency ANI:
Social media: Unlike Group 1, the officials that Group 2 met took to social media to speak about their meeting with the Indian delegation.
"Yesterday, as Chairman of the France-India Friendship Group, I had the honour of welcoming an Indian parliamentary delegation," Henry took to X to say on Thursday, 29 May.
"This meeting... was marked by a strong mobilization of our group, which represented more than two-thirds of the French parliamentary staff present, or 13 deputies out of the 17 participants," he added.
Local media coverage: The Indian delegation's visit was not covered by the country's leading media outlets, such as France24, Le Monde, The Connexion, Le Parisien, et al.
2. Italy
Seniority of officials: The delegation met with Stefania Craxi, President of the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee of the Senate of Italy. They also held a meeting with senator and former minister Giulio Terzi, who is currently serving as the President of the India-Italy Parliamentary Friendship Group and Maria Tripodi, Italy’s Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
Social media: While Italy's Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not publish anything about the Indian delegation's visit on social media, Maria Tripodi took to X to say that she had a "constructive exchange" with the delegation.
Stefania Craxi and Giulio Terzi – the two other senior officials who met the Indian delegation – did not post anything regarding the meeting on social media.
Local media coverage: Just like in France, Italy's leading media outlets, such as Corriere della Sera, la Repubblica, and Il Sole 24 Ore, did not publish anything about the Indian delegation's visit.
Group 3
Group 3 of the government's diplomatic outreach is being led by JD(U) MP Sanjay Kumar Jha and includes:
BJP MP Aparajita Sarangi
TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee
BJP MP Brij Lal
CPI(M) MP John Brittas
BJP MP Pradan Baruah
BJP MP Hemang Joshi
Congress leader Salman Khurshid
Former Ambassador to France Mohan Kumar
The countries that Group 3 are visiting include:
Japan
South Korea
Singapore
Indonesia
Malaysia (Yet to visit)
1. Japan
Seniority of officials: The eight-member delegation met with Japan's Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, National Security Committee Chairman Takashi Endo, and Speaker of the House of Representatives Fukushiro Nukaga.
Social media: While some of the officials that the delegation met are not on social media, those who are, such as Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and ex-PM Yoshihide Suga, did not post anything on their social media handles.
Even Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not post anything about the delegation's meeting with the foreign minister and other senior officials.
Local media coverage: There was no media coverage of the Indian delegation's visit in the country's leading media outlets, such as The Asahi Shimbun, Mainichi Shimbun, Yomiuri Shimbun, and The Japan Times.
2. South Korea
Seniority of officials: Following Japan, the delegation travelled to South Korea on 25 May and met with Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul, First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Kim Hong-kyun, Chairperson of the Korea-India Parliamentary Friendship Group of the Korean National Assembly Yun Ho-jung, and chairman of the National Assembly's National Defense Committee, Sung Il-jong.
Social media: South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not post anything on their official social media handles on the Indian delegation's visit. Further, none of the senior officials that the delegation met have a social media presence.
Local media coverage: South Korea's two leading media outlets, Korea Times and Korea Herald, published news stories on the delegation's meetings with government officials.
While Korea Times merely announced the visit of the Indian delegation to Seoul, Korea Herald did a more extensive report, saying that the Indian officials "urged South Korean support in the fight against terrorism", including for India's stand at multilateral forums like the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
“We shared our position, our concerns, documents, and even visual evidence. The Korean side appreciated India’s restraint and its right to defend its citizens," the publication quoted Sanjay Kumar Jha as saying during a press briefing.
3. Singapore
Seniority of officials: The delegation met with Sim Ann, senior Minister of State for Foreign and Home Affairs and Edwin Tong, Minister for Law and Second Minister for Home Affairs.
According to the Indian Embassy in Singapore, Ann was quoted as saying that the country "strongly condemns all acts of terrorism and stands with India against terrorism".
Social Media: Neither of the ministers that the Indian delegation met have social media accounts. Further, Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs also did not post anything regarding the visit on social media.
Local Media Coverage: Singapore's leading media outlets, such as The Straits Times, Lianhe Zaobao, and The Business Times, did not publish anything on the multi-party visit. Tamil Murasu, a Tamil-language newspaper in the country, only published a short news article.
4. Indonesia
Seniority of officials: Following their Singapore visit, the delegation is currently in Indonesia, where they met with Arif Havas Oegroseno, Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, Muhammad Husein Fadlulloh, Vice-Chairperson of the Committee for Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation, Muhammad Rofiqi, Chairperson of the Indonesia-India Parliamentary Friendship Group, and Kao Kim, Secretary-General of ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations).
"They (the Indian delegation) briefed us on what happened on 22 April (Pahalgam terror attack). This is something that we don't tolerate. We condemn all forms and all acts of terrorism," Kao Kim told news agency ANI without mentioning Pakistan.
Social media: Out of all the officials the Indian delegation met, Arif Havas Oegroseno is the only one who has a social media handle, but he did not post anything about the visit. Indonesia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not post anything on social media either.
Local media coverage: The Indian delegation's visit was not covered by popular Indonesian media outlets, like The Jakarta Post, Jakarta Globe, The Bali Times et al.
Group 4
Group 4 of the government's diplomatic outreach is being led by Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) MP Shrikant Eknath Shinde and includes:
BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj
IUML MP ET Mohammed Basheer
BJP MP Atul Garg
BJP MP Sasmit Patra
BJP MP Manan Kumar Mishra
BJP MP SS Ahluwalia
Former Ambassador to Japan Sujan Chinoy
The countries that Group 4 are visiting include:
UAE
Democratic Republic of Congo
Sierra Leone
Liberia (Yet to visit)
1. UAE
Seniority of officials: Group 4 of the government outreach met with Sheikh Nahyan Mabarak Al Nahyan, the UAE's Minister of Tolerance and Co-Existence, Ali Rashid Al Nuaimi, Chairman of the Defence, Interior & Foreign Affairs Committee of the Federal National Council, and some Emirati parliamentarians.
Social media: While Sheikh Nahyan Mabarak Al Nahya does not have a social media presence, his ministry's social media handles did not publish anything on the meeting with the Indian MPs, nor did Ali Rashid Al Nuaimi from his social media handle. Further, the UAE's Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not post anything on the visit either.
Local media coverage: None of the UAE's most popular media publications published anything on the Indian delegation's visit. These include Gulf News, Gulf Today, and Khaleej Times, among others.
This despite the fact that the president of the UAE, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, was among the first world leaders to express condolences over the Pahalgam terror attack.
2. Democratic Republic of Congo
Seniority of officials: Following the UAE, the delegation visited the Democratic Republic of Congo and met Deputy Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, Deputy President Christophe Bowulu, President of the Committee of Foreign Affairs of Congo’s National Assembly Berthold Ulungu Ekonda Lukata, and President of Sub-Commission in-charge of Foreign Affairs Jethro Muyombi Tshimbu.
"The aggressor of India must be punished and terror should be finished," Berthold Ulungu Ekonda Lukata, President of the Foreign Affairs Commission, told news agency ANI.
He went on to add: "We are honoured by the visit of the delegation from India. Their message is one of peace and zero tolerance towards terrorism. Being a democratic country ourselves, we promote the value of talks and friendship."
Social media: Despite the messages of solidarity, however, there were no posts by Congolese officials on social media. Some of them don't have a social media presence either.
Local media coverage: The country's popular newspapers, like Le Potentiel and L'Avenir, did not cover the delegation's visit.
3. Sierra Leone
Seniority of officials: Group 4 travelled to Sierra Leone on 28 May and met with the country's Deputy Defence Minister Muana Brima Massaquoi.
Striking a similar tone as officials of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Massaquoi went a step ahead and named Pakistan while condemning the Pahalgam terror attack.
The delegation also met with Speaker of the Sierra Leone Parliament Segepoh Solomon Thomas, Chairman of Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Mohamed Bangura, Deputy Leader of the Opposition Daniel Brima Koroma, and other Parliamentarians.
Social media: Most of the Sierra Leone officials the delegation met are not on social media.
Local media coverage: Despite messages of solidarity from officials, the meetings did not see media coverage in the Sierra Leone Telegraph, Sierra Express Media, and Cocorioko, among others.
Group 5
Group 5 of the government's diplomatic outreach is being led by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and includes:
LJP (Ram Vilas) MP Shambhavi
JMM MP Sarfaraz Ahmad
TDP MP GM Harish Balayogi
BJP MP Shashank Mani Tripathi
BJP MP Bhubaneswar Kalita
Shiv Sena MP Milind Murli Deora
BJP MP Tejasvi Surya
Former Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu
The countries that Group 4 are visiting include:
USA
Guyana
Panama
Brazil (Yet to visit)
Colombia (Yet to visit)
1. USA
Seniority of officials: While the delegation addressed a press conference in New York and visited the 9/11 Memorial, they did not conduct meetings with any US officials. Whether this decision was deliberate or their request for a meeting was turned down isn't known.
Social media: As there were no meetings, there were no social media posts by US officials either.
Local media coverage: None of the top US media publications, such as The New York Times, Washington Post, NBC News, CNN et al, published any stories on the delegation's visit.
2. Guyana
Seniority of officials: The delegation travelled to Guyana on 25 May and met with Prime Minister Mark Anthony Phillips, President Irfaan Ali, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, and Foreign Minister Hugh Hilton Todd, among others.
"It was an excellent visit. I assured the delegation that Guyana stands unequivocally with India. We are against terrorism and we believe that all those who perpetrate terrorist activities must be brought to justice," Jagdeo was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Social media: None of the officials, apart from president Irfaan Ali, have social media handles.
Local media coverage: The country's top media publications, Guyana Chronicle and Guyana Times, published news copies on the delegation's visit.
While Guyana Chronicle quoted Tharoor as saying that the delegation's meetings were "phenomenal", Guyana Times reported that the delegation "conveyed India’s strong message of zero-tolerance for terrorism in all its forms and manifestations".
3. Panama
Seniority of officials:
The delegation travelled to Panama on 27 May and is still there. During their visit to the south American nation, the group met with National Assembly President Dana Castaneda.
"Panama wants to stand with India in this campaign for peace, and we hope that we can defeat terrorism. We have spoken about these issues in detail, and this will help us understand each other better in India's fight against terrorism," Castaneda was quoted as saying by ANI.
They also met with Panamanian Foreign Minister Javier Martínez-Acha who said in a message of solidarity: "Any country in the world that serves as a safe haven for terrorists should be condemned".
Social media: Martínez-Acha also took to his X handle to speak about his meeting with Tharoor and the rest of the delegation.
"We met with Shashi Tharoor, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of India, and welcomed him. We discussed expanding technological and trade cooperation to boost mutual development and innovation," the minister said.
Local media coverage: Popular Panamanian newspapers, such as La Prensa, La Estrella de Panamá, and Mi Diario, did not cover the meetings.
Group 6
Group 6 of the government’s diplomatic outreach is being led by DMK MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi and includes:
SP MP Rajeev Rai
NC MLA Mian Altaf Ahmad
BJP MP Brijesh Chowta
RJD MP Prem Chand Gupta
AAP MP Ashok Kumar Mittal
Former Ambassador to the EU Manjeev Singh Puri
Former Ambassador to France Jawed Ashraf
The countries that Group 6 is visiting include:
Russia
Slovenia
Greece
Latvia (Yet to visit)
Spain (Yet to visit)
1. Russia
Seniority of officials
The Indian delegation arrived in Moscow on 22 May and met with Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko, former Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov, members of the Duma as well as representatives of the Federation Council, including Andrey Denisov, First Deputy Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Social media: None of the official Russian handles, including the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, posed any details on social media about the delegation's meetings.
However, the ministry released a press release following the meeting with the deputy foreign minister which read: "A decisive commitment to an uncompromising joint fight against all forms of terrorism was confirmed. Readiness was expressed to increase close cooperation on these issues at regional and global venues, primarily in the UN, BRICS and SCO"
However, the statement did not name Pakistan or its support of cross-border terrorism.
Local media coverage: The state-run TASS news agency reported briefly on the delegation’s meeting with Deputy FM Rudenko, focused on asking India and Pakistan to de-escalate tensions. Other popular outlets such as The Moscow Times, Ria Novosti, Sputnik International, and Pravda did not report anything at all.
2. Slovenia
Seniority of officials: The Kanimozhi-led delegation arrived in Ljubljana, Slovenia on 26 May and engaged with Marko Lotric, President of the National Council of Slovenia, Predrag Bakovic, Chairperson of the Foreign Policy Committee, and Miroslav Gregoric, Head of the India-Slovenia Parliamentary Friendship Group, among others.
Social media: None of the officials or the country's Ministry of External Affairs have posed anything about the delegation's visit.
Local media coverage: There was no coverage of the delegation’s visit in top Slovenian media outlets, including The Slovenia Times, The Slovenian Press Agency (STA), Delo, and Slovenske Novice.
Further, while the Indian delegates say that State Secretary Vojko Volk offered Slovenia’s full condemnation of the Pahalgam attack and expressed readiness to enhance security cooperation, including supporting India at international forums, the same has not been confirmed by the Slovenian government or media outlets.
3. Greece
While the delegation landed in Athens on 28 May, they had not yet conducted any meetings at the time of writing this article.
Group 7
Group 7 of the government's diplomatic outreach is being led by NCP MP Supriya Sule and includes:
SP MP Rajiv Rai,
BJP MP Brijesh Chowta
AAP MP Ashok Kumar Mittal
RJD MP Prem Chand Gupta
Ex-Permanent Representative to the UN Syed Akbaruddin
The countries that Group 7 is visiting include:
Qatar
South Africa
Ethiopia (Yet to visit)
Egypt (Yet to visit)
1. Qatar
Seniority of officials: In Qatar, the seniormost officials the Indian delegation met were Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al Khulaifi and Minister of State for Interior Affairs Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Faisal bin Mohammed Al Thani on 26 May. On 25 May, the delegation also met Hamda bint Hassan Al Sulaiti, Deputy Speaker of the Shura Council.
Social media: While most of the Qatari officials are not on social media, the country's Interior Ministry took to X to speak about the meeting between Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Faisal bin Mohammed Al Thani and the Sule-led delegation.
"HE Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Faisal bin Mohammed Al Thani, Minister of State for Interior Affairs, met today with HE Mrs. Supriya Sule, Member of the Indian Parliament and Leader of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), along with her accompanying delegation. The meeting discussed a number of issues of mutual interest and reviewed ways to enhance cooperation between the two sides," the tweet read.
Local media coverage: Some Qatari media outlets covered the Indian parliamentary delegation’s visit, including Qatar Tribune, The Peninsula, Doha News, and Al Jazeera.
The Qatar Tribune published an article reporting that the purpose of the delegation's visit was to convey India's 'zero-tolerance' policy on terror. Doha News noted that the delegation "conveyed India’s firm position on countering cross-border terrorism". However, the article also mentioned Pakistan’s claim of not being involved in the Pahalgam terror attack.
2. South Africa
Seniority of officials: In South Africa, the multi-party delegation conducted meetings with L Govender Deputy, Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces and 13 MPs from various political parties. They also met Supra Mahumapelo, Chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation, Kenneth Morolong, Deputy Minister in the Presidency, and John Steenhuisen, Federal Leader and Minister of Agriculture.
Social media: Despite extensive diplomatic and political engagements in both Johannesburg and Cape Town, there was no social media coverage of the delegation’s visit from any of the officials they met or South African government handles, including by the country's foreign affairs ministry –officially known as the Department of International Relations and Cooperation.
Local media coverage: There was no coverage of the Indian delegation's visit in prominent South African media outlets, including eNCA, Daily Maverick, IOL, Africa News, or The South African.
General Findings
Having conducted research across different spectrums of the countries that the seven delegations visited, The Quint found some general patterns.
While most of the countries have condemned terror and expressed their support and solidarity with India in this regard, not a single official in any country has outrightly condemned Pakistan's backing of terrorists, barring Sierra Leone's Deputy Defence Minister Muana Brima Massaquoi.
Of the 19 countries that the delegations have visited so far, the top media outlets of 14 of them did not publish any stories on the delegations' visits.
Apart from Kuwait, Japan, South Korea, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Guyana, the delegations did not meet any heads of state or senior Cabinet ministers in any other country.
Apart from France, Italy, Panama, and Qatar, officials from no other country tweeted about their meetings with the Indian delegations. Several officials don't have social media accounts either.
While most Indian delegations expressed that they received support from their host countries regarding the fight against Pakistan-sponsored terror as well as backing at multilateral forums, the same has not been publicly conveyed by the countries' officials or local media outlets.