I felt very bad, opposition was not ready to listen: Jaishankar

NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar was upset by the sloganeering of the Opposition when he was giving a suo moto statement in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday on India's foreign policy in the past few months.

His statement was completely superseded amid the constant sloganeering by the opposition. EAM said that he felt bad that the opposition was not ready to listen to anything adding that the Opposition's objective is to criticise any progress India makes and prevent its message to spread in the country.

"I wanted to inform the House of the developments made in the past month. You saw a very successful visit of the PM to the US...I felt bad that the Opposition was not ready to listen. It seemed that they wanted to criticise any and every achievement of the country," said Jaishankar.

Opposition MPs were firm in their protest over the Manipur issue, demanding an ‘elaborate’ statement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the matter. Jaishankar urged the Opposition to "display a united front" and said "This is India's foreign policy, not any party's foreign policy. So when we present the achievements of India's foreign policy in front of the house but we saw that the opposition was not ready to listen at all."

He said that foreign policy is an area where both the Government and Opposition work together. "Foreign policy is one area where we must work together. If there is a dispute between each other in the country, we should keep India's image united outside the country," added Jaishankar.

He further advised the Opposition to set aside their differences when there is a discussion of national interest. "We may debate within the country but outside the country, we should display a united front. Opposition's conduct today should be looked into, when it comes to the national interest, politics should be set aside and it should be appreciated," said Jaishankar.

"The behaviour of the opposition today in the Rajya Sabha, I would say that attention should be paid where there is an advantage of the country," EAM added. NDA (National Democratic Alliance ) MPs chanted "Modi, Modi" in Rajya Sabha as EAM S Jaishankar was making his statement on the latest developments in India's Foreign Policy. To counter this, the opposition INDIA alliance MPs chanted "INDIA, INDIA."

Later the Rajya Sabha was adjourned till 2 pm amid a ruckus created by both treasury benches and the Opposition. Jaishankar said, "I made my statement about the achievements in foreign policy, the foreign tours of our leadership, Presidents and Prime Ministers of other nations who have come to the country. I was giving suo Moto and my attempt in front of the house was to introduce what progress has been made in the last months," Jaishankar said.

He also gave examples of mega-deal aircraft engine GE engines to India and said, "The Prime Minister had a very successful visit to America. We had been trying for years to bring aircraft engine GE engines to India. Due to his visit, it was decided there that there would be an agreement between GE and HAL. Our effort of forty years was successful."

"Three big companies of the world have decided to come here to India and set up their factories," Jaishankar said while mentioning how he wanted to address the parliament on various successes of the foreign policy. Earlier in the day, the INDIA alliance arrived at the Parliament wearing black clothes to register their protest against the Manipur violence.

Earlier on Wednesday, I.N.D.I.A bloc rallied behind a no-confidence motion against the PM Modi government moved by the Congress in Lok Sabha. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla accepted the Opposition’s no-confidence motion brought to the House by Congress Party MP Gaurav Gogoi against the Government.

The Narendra Modi government, which enjoys the support of at least 332 MPs in the Lok Sabha, faces virtually no threat from this no-confidence motion.