Congress to raise India's foreign policy 'deviations' in Parliament's Budget session after US-Israel attack on Iran

New Delhi: Congress will demand a discussion on the developments in West Asia following the US-Israel attack on Iran and India's foreign policy "deviations" during the second leg of Parliament's Budget Session starting Monday, even as government indicated to the Opposition that External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will make a statement on the issue.

The main Opposition party also said it will also demand a debate on the impact of the Indo-US interim trade deal on farmers in the session that will end on April 2.

The decision was taken at a meeting of Congress Parliamentary Strategy Group chaired by top leader Sonia Gandhi at her residence and attended by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and others.

Congress General Secretary (Communications) and Rajya Sabha Chief Whip Jairam Ramesh said it has been “let known” that Jaishankar will make a statement in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on West Asia situation.

He said the problem with such Ministerial statements are that they “convey little of value over and above that is already known and more importantly MPs are not given an opportunity to seek clarifications or ask questions”.

“What the Opposition wants is a full-fledged debate. 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. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who knew his ‘raj dharma’, was the PM,” he said.

After the meeting, Congress Rajya Sabha Whip and Working Committee member Syed Naseer Hussain told reporters that the meeting discussed national and international issues and decided on the issues to be taken on priority.

"We discussed the developments in West Asia, the crisis there and India's foreign policy as also its impact on international trade and energy. We also discussed the impact of the Indo-US interim trade deal on farmers," he said.

He said the party wants a discussion on both the issues during the session.

The meeting also deliberated on the delay in granting statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, the demands raised people in Ladakh and the green signal for development projects in ecologically sensitive Andaman and Nicobar Islands by the National Green Tribunal.

The party also wants to raise urban governance issues with a focus on Indore and Ahmedabad where public health issues had grabbed headlines.

He also said the entire Opposition will participate in the debate on the resolution seeking removal of Om Birla as Lok Sabha Speaker.