All-party meet on Sri Lanka: Opposition objects to Centre focusing on financial health of states
India Today
YSRCP, TMC and others raised their objection to a presentation on the financial health of states during an all-party meeting called by Centre to discuss the current situation in Sri Lanka.
At the all-party meeting called on Tuesday to discuss the Sri Lanka crisis, things took a different turn with some Opposition parties raising objections to a presentation on the financial health of states.
Initially, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said there were misinformed comparisons between the situation in Sri Lanka and India. It is learnt that officials from the finance ministry then gave a presentation on state borrowings.
When the presentation was ongoing, Opposition parties including YSRCP, TRS, DMK, AIMIM and TMC objected to this and questioned why the Centre's financial position was not being discussed instead, sources told India Today.
Some of them are said to have quipped that the Centre's borrowing compared to GDP is higher than any state's, sources said.
“Who are these secretaries to give a presentation to party heads?" one of the Opposition leaders who attended the all-party meeting told India Today.
Opposition leaders said the Sri Lanka-related meeting is not the platform to discuss the economic health of states. The presentation was stopped after they objected to it, sources said.
After the meeting, EAM S Jaishankar clarified there was no “political intent” behind the presentation.
