During a high-profile visit to South Korea as part of India’s Operation Sindoor parliamentary delegation, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Abhishek Banerjee issued a stern warning to the international community: “Any support to Pakistan is a support to terror organisations.” Speaking at a think tank meeting in Seoul, Banerjee condemned Pakistan’s role in harbouring terrorists, using the vivid metaphor, “A snake remains a snake,” to underscore the dangers of nurturing terrorism. His remarks, part of India’s global diplomatic outreach following the April 22, 2025, Pahalgam terror attack, highlighted the need for collective action against cross-border terrorism. The Pahalgam attack, which killed 26 civilians, was claimed by the Terrorist Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy of the UN-designated terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). India’s response, Operation Sindoor, involved precision airstrikes on May 7, 2025, targeting nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, neutralising over 100 terrorists. The all-party delegation to South Korea, led by Janata Dal (United) MP Sanjay Kumar Jha and including MPs like Salman Khurshid and Aparajita Sarangi, is one of seven groups visiting 33 nations to rally global support for India’s anti-terrorism stance. The Seoul leg, following a stop in Japan, included meetings with South Korean lawmakers, such as Yun Ho-jung of the Korea-India Parliamentary Friendship Group, and policy experts to strengthen bilateral counter-terrorism ties.

Abhishek Banerjee’s Message

Banerjee’s address in Seoul framed the Pahalgam attack as not just an assault on India but a “global imperative” requiring unified action. He accused Pakistan of consistently shielding terrorists, citing the 2008 Mumbai attacks, where 166 people, including foreign nationals, were killed by Pakistan-trained operatives. “We have been saying time and again how Pakistan is harbouring, shielding, and sheltering terrorists,” he stated, pointing to the presence of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad and the attendance of Pakistan’s top military officials at the funerals of terrorists killed in Operation Sindoor.
Using a powerful analogy, Banerjee warned, “Breeding a snake in your backyard, thinking it will only bite your neighbour, is the last mistake one can make. A snake remains a snake.” He cautioned that terrorism, once unleashed, spares no one, including its sponsors. He further declared, “Any organisation supporting any act of Pakistan is like supporting a terror organisation,” urging nations to reconsider any backing for Pakistan in light of its ties to groups like LeT.
Banerjee highlighted India’s restraint and precision in Operation Sindoor, noting that India waited 14 days for Pakistan to act against the Pahalgam attackers before launching airstrikes. “We come from a land of peace and harmony,” he said, “but our humility should not be seen as weakness. You fire, we fire. You stop, we stop.” Quoting Martin Niemöller’s poem, he emphasised the dangers of inaction: “First they came for the socialists… Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”