Opposition demanding debate on West Asia situation but Modi govt is afraid: Congress

New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday said the Opposition is demanding a discussion in both Houses of Parliament on the situation in West Asia and its impacts on India, but the Modi government is "adamantly refusing" to allow such a debate as it is "afraid".

The opposition party also claimed that the government's foreign policy "already stands brutally exposed".

The Congress, along with other opposition parties, has been demanding a full-fledged discussion in Parliament on the West Asia crisis that has led to an energy shortage, saying the people of the country deserve to know the truth.

In a post on X, Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said, "The Opposition is demanding a discussion in both Houses of Parliament on the situation in West Asia and its impacts on India. But the Modi Govt is adamantly refusing to allow such a debate. It is clearly afraid." "Its foreign policy already stands brutally exposed," he said on X.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had on Wednesday said the energy crisis is deepening in the country and people are being made to suffer the hardships.

"The Modi Government's fake 'source-based' assurances expose its utter incompetence. The Union Government was prescient about the impending war in West Asia. Yet it did nothing to secure India's energy supply," he had said in a post on X.

The Congress had staged a walkout in Rajya Sabha and protested in Lok Sabha on being dissatisfied with the statement of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in both houses of Parliament on Monday.

The opposition party on Monday termed as "vapid" External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's statement on the West Asia situation in Parliament and alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's foreign policy "(mis)adventurism" coupled with the government's undermining of the Indian Foreign Service, is pushing India into "vassalage".

India on Monday advocated de-escalation of tensions in West Asia and called for dialogue and diplomacy to resolve all underlying issues, as it put the safety of around one crore Indians in the region as its top priority, along with securing energy security and trade.

The US and Israel launched a major military attack on Iran on February 28, and killed its 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Making a suo-motu statement in Parliament, Jaishankar had said New Delhi stood for maintaining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states in the region. He defended allowing the Iranian ship to dock at an Indian port as the right decision taken on humanitarian grounds.

He said the Indian government has been constantly monitoring the evolving situation in the region at the highest level and has already brought back 67,000 stranded Indians from the conflict zone.

Jaishankar had said the safety of Indian nationals and national interests, such as energy security and trade, remain the topmost priority for the government.