Sources said the briefing by the External Affairs Ministry delegation on its demands for grants for the year 2024-25 went on for a long time and it was decided that the briefing on these issues will be done later.
A scheduled briefing by foreign secretary Vikram Misri to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs headed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on India’s volatile ties with Canada and China did not take place on Wednesday. Sources cited paucity of time and said that the briefing was likely to be taken up later.
Sources said the briefing by the External Affairs Ministry delegation on its demands for grants for the year 2024-25 went on for a long time and it was decided that the briefing on these issues will be done later.
According to the schedule, the discussion on demand for grants of the External Affairs Ministry was to be held from 11 am till lunch.
“A briefing by foreign secretary on issues in India’s foreign relations — India-Canada and India-China (continued from the previous meeting),” read the notice for the post-lunch meeting.
However, an Opposition member said that it was a deliberate attempt on the part of the BJP members to prolong the discussion on grants post lunch so that briefing on the two important issues could be deferred. “In the first meeting also, we raised questions on the deteriorating ties between India and Canada and why there was no joint statement by China and India to announce the border agreement. However, they said it will be briefed in the second meeting,” said the member.
The ministry officials also had some other engagements, an MP said, noting that the panel’s meeting coincided with the US presidential election result in which Donald Trump stormed back to power. Some MPs said the next meeting should take place after the state elections and the by-elections to allow maximum participation as some of them may be busy campaigning. The results of the polls are scheduled for November 23.
India’s ties with Canada have nosedived over the North American country’s allegation of India’s involvement in the killing of a Khalistani activist, a charge rejected by New Delhi. India has accused Canada of providing a safe haven to the separatists.
India’s relations with China have also been frosty following the Ladakh standoff but have recently seen some thaw after the two countries reached an agreement on the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
The first meeting of the parliamentary committee in October last week discussed the ties between India and China and the recent agreement on patrolling along the LAC. Misri had briefed its members on the Israel-Palestine conflict. Sources said members have raised questions on why India had abstained from certain resolutions in the United Nations against Israel. The MPs also flagged the issue of job recruitment of Indians to Israel.