Big Picture: Boulder Attack Reinforces Urgency of India’s Global Anti-Terror Outreach
Hours before a high-level Indian parliamentary delegation, led by senior Congress MP and former UN Under-Secretary-General Shashi Tharoor, was set to engage U.S. lawmakers and policy leaders in Washington, D.C., a violent terror attack in Boulder, Colorado has jolted America’s consciousness once again.
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The attack—targeted, incendiary, and politically motivated—saw a man shouting “Free Palestine” use a makeshift flamethrower to injure eight people at a peaceful assembly calling for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza.
At this moment, the U.S. continues to reel from an uptick in antisemitic violence but this incident—occurring on the Jewish holiday of Shavuot—sharply mirrors the nature of modern-day terrorism: deliberate, ideological, and increasingly transnational in its rhetoric and reach.
The Boulder attack, while not resulting in fatalities, has triggered a federal terror probe. The suspect, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, is now in custody and facing serious federal charges.
The Indian delegation, almost in the U.S. as part of a 33-nation anti-terror diplomatic campaign following the April 22 massacre in Pahalgam, expressed immediate concern.
“We are relieved there was no loss of life,” Tharoor posted, echoing the sentiment of U.S. Secretary Marco Rubio, who said, “Terror has no place in our great country.”
For India, the timing is strategic. The Pahalgam attack, in which 26 civilians—families, tourists, and children—were gunned down by heavily armed terrorists in the serene meadows of India's Jammu and Kashmir, has reignited a national and international conversation about the evolving nature of terrorism.
It was an assault on the very idea of peaceful civilian life. Tourists, honeymooners, and children were methodically targeted. Witnesses spoke of terrorists testing the faith of victims before executing them, evoking a level of ideological brutality that is familiar to intelligence agencies globally. It recalled the early signs of post-9/11 asymmetrical terror—where soft targets are chosen deliberately to send maximum psychological impact.
From Kuala Lumpur, Shri @abhishekaitc delivered a clear message:
— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) June 1, 2025
“India has been engaging in dialogue with Pakistan for the last 50 years. No matter who was in Government.
I want to tell the ruling dispensation that if they want to engage in dialogue with Pakistan, let it be only… pic.twitter.com/Y7YQ3GhXdA
Both the Boulder and Pahalgam attacks reflect the same unholy trifecta: ideological rage, soft civilian targets, and international implications. That is what makes India’s current diplomatic campaign not just timely, but vital. By sending multi-party parliamentary delegations—comprising MPs from across the political spectrum—to 33 world capitals, New Delhi is signaling that counterterrorism is no longer a regional issue, but a shared global mandate. It is also a reminder that democratic unity at home lends strength to credibility abroad.
Tharoor, a seasoned diplomat and former UN official, is well aware that moments like this provide opportunities to forge deeper bonds. His presence at the helm of the U.S. leg of India’s outreach is strategic. Not just because of his diplomatic credentials, but because the U.S., particularly under the turbulence of electoral politics and rising internal polarisation, requires sober conversations grounded in shared values: security, pluralism, and human dignity.
While recent political noise—especially over issues such as Article 370 or trade lobbies aligned with President Trump—has sometimes clouded Indo-U.S. cooperation, the threat of terrorism remains a consistent common denominator. It cuts through partisanship, it outlasts governments, and it speaks directly to the one value both democracies claim as central: the sanctity of life.
India’s Operation Sindoor, a swift and calibrated military response to the Pahalgam killings, was followed by diplomacy. Unlike previous eras where India’s appeals to global forums were often diluted by strategic ambiguity or great power rivalries, this time the outreach is broad, multi-institutional, and rooted in civil as well as official diplomacy. Whether it’s in Madrid, Seoul, Kinshasa, or Boulder, the message is the same: terrorism has no justification, and neutrality only enables its spread.
What India is attempting—building a concerted global moral consensus—is not new. But the scale and tone are different. Less defensive, more assertive. Less reactive, more agenda-setting. The Boulder attack will now serve as an unfortunate but urgent example of why India’s message matters—and why countries must begin to align on counterterrorism not as a matter of regional security, but of global civic survival.
Shashi Tharoor and his delegation will step into conversations with U.S. lawmakers, think tanks, and diaspora communities this week. They will be doing so not as visitors carrying grievances, but as partners holding up a mirror. A mirror that reflects both countries’ shared vulnerabilities—and their shared responsibility to act.
(Saket Suman is the author of The Psychology of a Patriot)