Tharoor: Leak of House panel info cause for concern
The chairman of the Standing Committee on External Affairs and Congress Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor has expressed concern over the “leak” of the proceedings. After the meeting of the committee last week, there were comments attributed to the foreign secretary which appeared in the media which were later clarified.
The entire episode caused a huge furore. The Congress claimed their stand to be vindicated which was that the surgical strikes across the border had been done earlier also. The Congress hit out at the government claiming that the BJP-led NDA government was trying to make political capital out of the cross border surgical strikes.
Nominated MP Swapan Dasgupta had written to Mr Tharoor asking him to inquire into the leaks of proceedings of the meeting. In his letter, Mr Dasgupta said the leak amounted to a “tendentious spin” and was used by the Congress for “partisan politics.”
Mr Tharoor said that he had spoken to the external affairs minister and the foreign secretary about lifting the confidentiality clause if the foreign secretary so desired to set the record straight. According to Mr Tharoor, both the external affairs minister and the foreign secretary did not want the current practice to be changed.
Mr Tharoor also made it clear that in the beginning of the meeting, only he had clarified to all that confidentiality must be maintained in order for the Committee to be effective in enacting its mandate. Also, officials of the ministry should be able to give their testimony without fear of leaks. The leaks will certainly be discussed in the next meeting on the Standing Committee on External Affairs.