Jaishankar to brief all-party panel on Afghan situation

BOTH LOK SABHA AND RAJYA SABHA LEADERS OF VARIOUS PARTIES HAVE BEEN INVITED FOR THE MEETING

NEW DELHI: External affairs minister S Jaishankar will brief parliamentary floor leaders of various parties on the prevailing Afghanistan situation on Thursday after the Taliban’s takeover of the war-ravaged country fuelled chaos, protests and mass exodus from Kabul.

The last all-party meeting on Afghanistan was held 20 years ago, on October 30, 2001, after US forces launched an attack against the Taliban in the aftermath of the 9/11 terror strike.

The upcoming meeting, organised by the parliamentary affairs ministry, underlines how history has turned a full circle on Afghan soil.

Parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi tweeted, “Floor Leaders of Political Parties would be briefed by EAM @Drsjaishankar on the present situation in Afghanistan... Invites are being sent through email. All concerned are requested to attend”, after Jaishankar announced on the microblogging site, “In view of developments in Afghanistan, PM @narendramodi has instructed that MEA brief Floor Leaders of political parties.”

Both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha leaders of various parties have been invited for the meeting.

It will be the first parliamentary all-party meeting during the Modi era on an external situation. But the gravity of the Afghanistan situation is hard for parliamentary leaders to overlook as it affects India’s security situation and a deep humanitarian crisis with hundreds of Indian expats as well as Afghan nationals being evacuated.

The last all-party meeting was called on the Covid situation on July 20.

While all parties are expected to attend the meeting on Afghanistan, some leaders, however, suggested that the government should call a meeting of party chiefs and not just parliamentary leaders. “A meeting on Afghanistan would have been a more fruitful exercise if the party leaders were invited. The government must call a meeting of party leaders,” said Trinamool MP Sudip Bandopadhyay.

The previous meeting on Aghanistan was organised by the external affairs ministry but chaired by the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The subject was “American Military Action in Afghanistan”.