Parliamentary panel on External Affairs defers discussion on Canada and China

As the deliberations have been deferred for the second consecutive time, an Opposition member said, “It was very evident that the BJP members wanted to stall the briefing and thus the deliberations on the demand for grants got dragged out. But we have insisted that the Foreign Secretary must return to brief the panel on the two issues”

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs deferred deliberations on Indo-Canada and Indo-China relations for the second consecutive time. On Wednesday (November 6, 2024), Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri was scheduled to brief the panel headed by senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor but, as per the sources, the panel ran out of time and could not take up the deliberations.

The panel was scheduled to take up a discussion on demand for grants of the External Affairs Ministry in the first half from 11 a.m. till lunch. In the post-lunch session, where Mr. Misri was slated to brief the panel members on India’s relation with Canada and China. The discussion on the demand for grants dragged on in the post-lunch session too. “It was very evident that the BJP members wanted to stall the briefing and thus the deliberations on the demand for grants got dragged out. But we have insisted that the Foreign Secretary must return to brief the panel on the two issues,” a member of the panel from the Opposition said.

In the panel’s first meeting too, citing similar reasons, the discussion on these two topics was pushed for the next meeting.

Earlier in the day, the members asked a range of questions, especially on the gap in allocated funds and expenditure. Mr. Misri’s presentation revealed that the Ministry has failed to spend the allocated budget under various heads. Concerns were also expressed, as per sources, on the high rate of vacancies in the Central Passport Organisation. As per sources, while the sanctioned strength is 2,741, there are only 1,749 persons working in the organisation, leading to nearly 35% shortfall.

Published - November 06, 2024 07:28 pm IST