"We condemn terrorism in strongest terms": Chief of Peace Committee, Security Council of the African Union Billy Winter

Speaking to ANI, Billy Winter said, "We are with India in these trying moments. We, as the African Union Commission, condemn terrorism in the strongest terms, whether on the African continent, globally, or on the Indian side. However, we have shared experiences. As far as the African Union, we have also had this menace of terrorism across a number of member states. So our experience and how we respond to this, we have discussed with the high-level multi-party delegation from India, and they have also shared their experiences and committed to jointly working together to eliminate this menace once and for all."

In his remarks, he expressed that India has a right to respond to acts of terrorism as it is a "sovereign right".

Speaking about India's new approach towards countering terrorism, he said, "The new doctrine of India, we have been told, says that wherever the terrorist is on the globe, if it strikes on Indian soil, then India has the right to respond. And that is obvious, because the right to respond is a sovereign right on every state that has been afflicted by this menace."

He also said, "It is terrorism that affects the livelihood of the civilians. So the way you respond to it is entirely through the national legislative measures. As the African Union, we have put in place normative frameworks. The Notch Court process, the Djibouti process, the counterterrorism centre in Algiers, and the information sharing centre in Entebbe, Uganda. Some of these are mechanisms that were put in place for sharing information and intelligence with our partners and allies."

The all-party delegation led by Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar (NCP-SCP) MP Supriya Sule, had earlier interacted with the Peace and Security Council of the African Union at its Headquarters in Addis Ababa.

The delegation's mission is to showcase India's resolve against terrorism and garner international support for a united stand against this global threat. The Indian government's diplomatic outreach efforts aim to strengthen partnerships with countries in East and Southeast Asia, emphasising the need for a collective response to the threat of terrorism.

India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 in a decisive military response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people were killed.

Indian armed forces targeted terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, leading to the death of over 100 terrorists affiliated with terror outfits like the Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen.

After the attack, Pakistan retaliated with cross-border shelling across the Line of Control and Jammu and Kashmir as well as attempted drone attacks along the border regions, following which India launched a coordinated attack and damaged radar infrastructure, communication centres and airfields across 11 airbases in Pakistan.

After this, on May 10, an understanding regarding the cessation of hostilities between India and Pakistan was announced. (ANI)