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'If India, Sri Lanka comparison misinformed, then why...': Owaisi's jab after all-party meet
Owaisi accused the government of 'politicising' the all-party meeting called to disucc the Sri Lanka crisis as the meeting finances of indivividual states were discussed.
As foreign minister S Jaishankar at the all-party meet said that the speculation that India could go the same way as Sri Lanka is misplaced, AIMIM MP Asadudddin Owaisi asked then why the department of economic affairs made the presentation which, Owaisi said, was the politicisation of state's economic health.
The all-party meeting was convened on Tuesday in parliament where the finance minister made a presentation on the financial health of states drawing criticism from regional parties as at a meeting called to discuss the Sri Lanka crisis, the ministry officials spoke of the 'budgeted and non-budgeted borrowings' of some states. The government later clarified that the presentation was made to underscore bad consequences of fiscal imprudence and freebies. YSR Congress, TRS, TMC, DMK raised objections to the presentation at the meeting and said that those were 'unrelated issues'.
"I cited a report from May 24 that clearly indicated an impending fiscal crisi in SL. I asked if what Modi govt was doing to help SL was too little, too later. The government denied it but a request was made by Gotabaya, he had in fact tweeted about it too," Owaisi tweeted,
"If Sri Lanka wants an IMF facility of $4.6 bn, why let US take control? India has enough reserves to invest in such facility. We have our own experts, including IAS officers (current & former) who have worked in IMF and can organise this for us," Owaisi added.
Commenting on the 'neglect of minorities in Sri Lanka, Owaisi said, "Neglect of minorities in SL is endemic. Muslims & Tamils weren’t part of the previous govt & not of the current one either. The consequences of ethnic tensions heating up in SL will be felt in Tamil Nadu too, we shouldn’t forget that."
"Govt has said that there aren’t any refugees coming from SL. What if they start streaming in later? Doesn’t the govt agree that we need a refugee policy? What will govt do? How many can we accommodate? Did Gotabaya Rajapaksa want to come to India and was refused by GoI? If yes, why? Did NSA facilitate his flight to Maldives & then Singapore?" Owaisi said.
"Sri Lanka is in this mess because Gotabya suppressed data. Will @PMOIndia release data on job loss and child labour?" Owaisi demanded.
At the meeting, Jaishankar told the MPs that Sri Lanka is facing a "very severe crisis" and the situation is "unprecedented".
