Asaduddin Owaisi's jibe at government: 'If comparing India-Sri Lanka is uninformed, why...'

Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis in seven decades. But with people and opposition parties drawing comparisons between India and its neighbour in the face of rising prices in India, Dr Jaishankar said that the fears were unfounded

New Delhi: As Sri Lanka reels under a severe economic crisis, many in India have expressed concerns about whether the country is heading the same way. Rising prices, and with the rupee breaching 80 per dollar for the first time, these fears have only gained momentum. An all-party meeting was held on Tuesday (July 19) where External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar spoke about the "unprecedented" situation in Sri Lanka, but added that apprehensions that India is following its neighbour's footsteps are unfounded. AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi however hit back at the government.

"Today, the government called an all-party meeting on the Sri Lanka crisis. However, it used the opportunity to raise unrelated issues about the finances of Indian states. In his initial remarks, Dr S Jaishankar said that there’s a “misinformed campaign and comparison between India and Sri Lanka”. If so, why did DEA (Department of Economic Affairs) have to make a presentation? Many opposition parties opposed this politicisation," Owaisi said.  

Referring to USD 3.8 billion support that India has given to Sri Lanka, Jaishankar had said "no other country has given this level of support". Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis in seven decades. The minister said that big lessons of Sri Lanka are to be drawn on fiscal prudence and good governance and under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, "we have both in very ample measure". 

"There's a very serious crisis in Sri Lanka, the situation there is unprecedented in terms of what we are seeing and the financial, social and political consequences of that. It's our very close neighbour," he said. In his remarks at the all-party meeting, Jaishankar said that the situation in Sri Lanka is unprecedented "and India is worried about it". "But drawing comparisons is uninformed," he said. The minister said 46 parties were invited for the meeting. There were eight ministers, including Pralhad Joshi and Purshottam Rupala," he said.