Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday chaired the all-party meeting on the West Asia crisis.
The meeting held inside Parliament building was attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar, Petroleum Minister Hardeep Puri and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri.
Leaders from other parties, including Sasmit Patra (BJD), Lallan Singh (JDU), Mukul Wasnik, and Tariq Anwar, Dharmendra Yadav from SP, and John Brittas from CPIM, were also present.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and the Petroleum Secretary briefed representatives of the Opposition parties present in the meeting.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, didn’t attend the meeting. Gandhi had earlier told reporters that he would attend a scheduled programme in Kerala.
Rajya Sabha’s Leader of the Opposition and Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge is likely to attend the all-party meeting.
Kharge, however, said that instead of the briefing, the government should have debated the issue in the House.
The all-party meeting comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha over the issue.
During his address, PM Modi told both the Houses that the conflict in the Middle East has posed serious challenges but assured that India is fully prepared to deal with the crisis.
He said the country has sufficient energy stocks and efforts have been made to ensure to overcome the supply disruptions due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
He informed the House that his government has constituted seven empowered groups to evolve strategies on fuel, supply chains and fertilisers, among others, to ensure Indians are the least affected by the war.
PM Modi also cautioned citizens to be prepared for the challenges that lie ahead, adding that the conflict may have long-term effects.