Opposition wants full-fledged debate on West Asia issue: Congress

NEW DELHI: With external affairs minister S Jaishankar set to make a statement in Parliament on the situation in West Asia, Congress on Sunday said the opposition wants a full-fledged debate on the issue in the Budget session’s second part that starts on Monday.

On Monday, before the session begins, a meeting of the joint opposition will also be held in the chamber of Leader of Opposition in RS, Mallikarjun Kharge on forming a common strategy on the opposition-sponsored resolution for LS Speaker Om Birla’s removal, Congress leader Syed Naseer Hussain said on Sunday. His remarks came after a key parliamentary strategy group meeting at the residence of Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi.





Meanwhile, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh in a post on X on Sunday night said, "it has been let known that the External Affairs Minister will make a statement in both Houses of Parliament on the situation in West Asia".

"The problems with such Ministerial statements are that (i) they convey little of value over and above that is already known; and more importantly (ii) MPs are not given an opportunity to seek clarifications or ask questions," Ramesh said.

"What the opposition wants is a full-fledged debate," he added.

"On April 8, 2003 there was a spirited debate in the Lok Sabha on the US invasion of Iraq and a resolution was even passed condemning it. This was when Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who knew his Rajdharma, was the PM," Ramesh said.

Meanwhile, The Congress leadership on Sunday held a key parliamentary strategy group meeting at the residence of Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi. After the meeting while speaking to the media, on the issue of no-confidence motion against the Lok Sabha Speaker, Congress leader Syed Naseer Hussain said that all opposition parties would participate in the discussion and vote in favour of the resolution seeking Om Birla's removal.

Hussain said that they discussed various national and international developments, including the West Asia crisis and its implications.

"We have decided that during the second part of the Budget session of Parliament, we would like to hold a discussion on the implications of the West Asia crisis and what effect it would have on India's foreign policy and what our political stand would be," he said.

"Several critical issues were examined, including the implications of the proposed Indo-US trade deal and its potential impact on Indian farmers and our agricultural economy," he added.

"We believe that these matters require a comprehensive discussion in Parliament," Hussain said.

He also said that concerns were also raised regarding the govt's position on ladakh, particularly the gap between earlier assurances and the present stance, as well as the continuing question of the status of Jammu and Kashmir. "These issues are of national importance and must be discussed transparently," he added.
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