It began with a chuckle but ended with a chilling reminder.

At a press conference hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor momentarily dropped his diplomat hat to sound like a typical father when a familiar voice rose from the crowd.

"You have to stand up. That shouldn't be allowed. This is my son,” Tharoor said with a disarming grin, as journalist Ishan Tharoor of The Washington Post prepared to ask a question.

Adding to the drama, Tharoor’s dry, dad-like instruction “Raise your mic”, struck a chord with desi households everywhere.

The moment quickly made its way across X, with many users dubbing it “Indian parent behaviour 101.”

“Leave everything aside. ‘Raise the mic’ was the ultimate proof that he’s a classic Indian father,” wrote one user, summing up the sentiment perfectly.

But if the father-son moment won the Internet, what followed swiftly reminded everyone that the Congress MP wasn't there to play for laughs.

Ishan asked whether any Western interlocutors had requested proof of Pakistan’s involvement in the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, and his father responded with a mix of humour and pointed clarity.

“Very glad you raised this, Ishan. I didn’t plant it, I promise you. This guy does this to his dad,” Tharoor said, drawing laughter from the room before switching tones like only he can.

“Very simply, no one had any doubt. We were not asked for evidence. But let me say very clearly that India would not have acted without convincing evidence,” he said.

What followed was a scathing, three-pronged indictment of Pakistan’s long and bloody track record of cross-border terrorism and denial.

Tharoor began by pointing to what he called a “37-year pattern” of cross-border terrorism from Pakistan, repeatedly accompanied by official denials.

“Americans haven’t forgotten that Osama bin Laden was found in a Pakistani safe house, next to an army camp, in a cantonment city,” he reminded the audience, drawing a direct line between past events and the current crisis.

He then cited the 26/11 Mumbai attacks as a moment of undeniable exposure.

Despite Pakistan’s initial denials, Tharoor recalled how one of the attackers, Ajmal Kasab, was captured alive and provided not only his identity and Pakistani address but also details of his training.

“The US and Indian intelligence even recorded a Pakistani handler giving minute-by-minute instructions,” he said.

Tharoor closed the point emphatically, describing Pakistan’s conduct as a repeated cycle of provocation and denial.

“They will dispatch terrorists, deny they did so, until they’re caught red-handed — and even then, find a way to shrug it off,” he said, leaving little doubt about where India stands on the issue.

Tharoor’s comments come as part of a diplomatic campaign to mobilise international support and counter disinformation following the Pahalgam attack that claimed the lives of Indian soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir.

As head of the all-party delegation, Tharoor has been briefing key stakeholders in Washington on India’s position.