Colombia will issue a statement in support of India’s stance after it withdrew an earlier one condoling the deaths in Pakistan during Operation Sindoor, The Hindu quoted Congress MP Shashi Tharoor as saying on Friday.

Tharoor, who is leading an Indian all-party parliamentary delegation to Colombia, confirmed the development during a visit to Bogota’s Tadeo Lozano University, the newspaper added.

“They have withdrawn their earlier statement that disappointed us and will issue a statement of strong support for our position and understanding of our position,” The Hindu quoted Tharoor as saying.

On Thursday, Tharoor had expressed disappointment over the Colombian government’s “heartfelt condolences over the loss of lives in Pakistan, rather than sympathising with the victims of [Pahalgam] terror [attack]”, The Indian Express reported.

The Thiruvananthapuram MP had said that “there can be no equivalence between those who dispatch terrorists and those who resist them”.

“There can be no equivalence between those who attack and those who defend,” he said.

He added that India, during Operation Sindoor, had only exercised its right of self-defence and if “there is any misunderstanding…on this core…we are here to dispel any misunderstanding”.

After Colombia withdrew its statement, former Indian Ambassador to the United States and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Taranjit Singh Sandhu attributed the shift in the Latin American country’s position to the delegation’s “thorough and strategic” briefing.

“We had a detailed exchange with the acting foreign minister this morning,” Sandhu, who is also part of the delegation, told ANI. “Our leader and the entire team made specific points to them, explaining to them the timeline, which perhaps to an extent they might have missed out.”

The BJP leader also highlighted Colombia’s diplomatic importance as it will soon have a seat on the United Nations Security Council, the news agency said.

After concluding the Colombia visit, the all-party delegation will be heading to Brazil and the United States on Saturday.

Tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad had escalated on May 7 when the Indian military carried out strikes – codenamed Operation Sindoor – on what it claimed were terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

The strikes were in response to the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, which killed 26 persons on April 22.

The Pakistan Army retaliated to Indian strikes by repeatedly shelling Indian villages along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. At least 22 Indian civilians and eight defence personnel were killed.

On May 10, India and Pakistan reached an “understanding” to halt firing following a four-day conflict.