India News | If PM Modi is Sincere, He Should Convene All-party Meeting on West Asia Conflict: CPI General Secretary D Raja

By Sajan Tiwari

New Delhi [India], March 23 (ANI): Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks in the Lok Sabha on the West Asia tensions and their impact on India, Communist Party of India (CPI) General Secretary D Raja demanded that the Prime Minister convene an all-party meeting and seek the opinions of all political parties.

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Speaking to ANI, D Raja recalled the practice of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who would convene all-party meetings during every national crisis. He emphasised that India should condemn America and Israel for the ongoing war and demand an immediate halt, stating, "If issues exist, they should be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy at the national level."

Raja urged that if PM Modi is sincere, he should convene an all-party meeting to hear the views of political parties.

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"India should condemn America and Israel for this war. India should demand that they all stop the war. If there are problems, there should be dialogue and diplomacy at the national level. If PM Modi has sincerity, he should convene an all-party meeting and take the opinion of political parties in the country. Is he prepared to have serious dialogue with political parties within the country? Mr. Vajpayee used to convene all-party meetings during crises. When there was a crisis in Iraq, there was an all-party meeting, and statements came from Pakistan. Mr. Vajpayee convened all-party meetings in such situations," said D Raja.

He further stressed that Modi must respect India's parliamentary system and political consensus.

"PM Modi should think such things. PM Modi can not take people for granted. PM Modi can't take Parliament for granted. PM Modi should understand. People are people, country is country. He should respect the parliamentary system in our country. He should respect the political consensus, which is necessary on any critical issue," said D Raja.

D. Raja also criticised PM Modi's recent visit to Israel, pointing out that shortly afterwards, Israel and the US attacked Iran.

"PM Modi went to Israel and expressed full support to Israel, and after a couple of days, Israel and US joined together and attacked Iran. How can it be justified? PM Modi should speak openly and ask US and Israel to stop the war. War against Iran costs immense difficulty in the Global South. And who should be responsible for all these crises? It's US and Israel. And India is keeping quiet. PM Modi should criticise. What stand has PM Modi taken? This is not the sovereign foreign policy position that India has to take. PM Modi has given up the sovereign foreign policy position of India. PM Modi has been surrendering to Trump. He has to take all responsibility for what is happening today. Instead of that, he is comparing this situation with COVID. COVID was a health crisis that people understood. This is not a health crisis. This crisis is created by US and Israel, and PM Modi is surrendering to America," said D Raja.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that the Centre has made adequate arrangements for fertilisers amid concerns over imports due to the West Asia conflict, saying that the government has never "allowed the burden of global crises to fall on farmers."

Addressing the Lok Sabha, PM Modi assured the nation that adequate coal stocks are present to generate electricity as the summer season approaches in India.

The Prime Minister said, "A major question is - what will be the impact of the war on agriculture? The farmers of our country have filled our grain reserves. Therefore, India has adequate food stocks. It is also our endeavour that sowing for the Kharif season takes place properly. The government has made adequate arrangements for fertilisers to deal with such situations. In the past as well, our government did not allow the burden of global crises to fall on farmers. In the last decade, six urea plants have been commissioned, adding 76 lakhs metric tonnes of capacity of urea."

There were concerns around the supply of fertilisers for farming, as India depends on West Asia for a major part of its imported fertilisers. Earlier in March, QatarEnergy had announced that it is stopping the production of some downstream products in the country, including urea, polymers, methanol, aluminium and other products amid the ongoing conflict in the region.

Addressing the "major challenge" of electricity production, PM Modi said, "Another major challenge of the war is that the summer season is beginning in India. In the coming days, with rising temperatures, the demand for electricity will increase. Currently, adequate coal stocks are available at all power plants across the country."

Further, PM Modi invoked ethanol blending in fuel and electrification of railways as steps to counter the global fuel crisis, as Iran has virtually blocked the Strait of Hormuz.

"Due to ethanol blending, we are saving the import of about 4.5 crore barrels of oil every year. Similarly, railway electrification is also bringing great benefits. If such large-scale railway electrification had not happened, an additional 180 crore litres of diesel would have been required every year. We have also expanded the metro network. In 2014, the metro network was less than 250 km, which has now increased to more than 1100 km," he said. (ANI)

(The above story is verified and authored by ANI staff, ANI is South Asia's leading multimedia news agency with over 100 bureaus in India, South Asia and across the globe. ANI brings the latest news on Politics and Current Affairs in India & around the World, Sports, Health, Fitness, Entertainment, & News. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)