New DelhiTop central ministers and officials on Friday briefed opposition leaders, including from the Congress, Left and Samajwadi Party (SP), on the standoff with China and the situation in Kashmir, officials said.
The briefing by home minister Rajnath Singh, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, defence minister Arun Jaitley and top officials, including national security advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval, comes ahead of parliaments monsoon session beginning on Monday.
Opposition leaders were told about the prevailing situation along the Sino-Indian border and Jammu and Kashmir and the government action, officials said.
Those who attended the meetingconsidered an effort to build consensus on dealings with Indias biggest neighbour and Kashmirinclude Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mallikarjun Kharge (Congress), Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M), Mulayam Singh Yadav (Samajwadi Party), Ram Vilas Paswan (LJP), Tariq Anwar (NCP), Sharad Yadav, K.C. Tyagi (JD-U) and Derek OBrien (TMC).
Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala took a jibe at the government, saying it was “satisfying” to see that the NDA government had “finally woken up” after three years to brief the opposition on the issues concerning the nation.
He said the Congress would fully “cooperate” with the government on issues relating to national security.
Director General Press Information Bureau (PIB) Frank Noronha later said that the meeting with the opposition parties was held to apprise them with the veracity of the terror attack on the Amarnath pilgrims.
Noronha said that all political parties condemned the attack and assured support to the government in the regard.
Above 19 MPs from different parties were present and those who have not been called today will be called tomorrow at the same time. The endeavour was to apprise the members of the parliament from different parties about the situation in Kashmir following the attack on Amarnath Yatris, said Noronha.
All the political parties without exception condemned the attack severely and expressed support to the government in making all security arrangements, he added.
The government has been facing flak on how the government has dealt with both the issues – China and Kashmir.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modis silence on China. On Wednesday, he accused Modi of pursuing policies that created space for terrorists in Kashmir. He also alleged that the prime ministers pursuit of short-term political gains from the BJP-PDP alliance in the state has cost the country dear and resulted in innocent lives being lost.
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