Minister Jaishanakar in a collage with a map of south India
Minister Jaishanakar in a collage with a map of south India

South states irked at all-party meet hosted by Minister Jaishankar on Sri Lanka

The all-party meeting called by the Union government to discuss the Sri Lankan crisis ended up targeting several opposition-ruled states for their present fiscal situation.
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An all-party meeting called by the Union government on Tuesday to discuss the Sri Lanka crisis turned into an opportunity for the Union government to target some states ruled by Opposition parties. The meeting, according to sources, turned confrontational when the government tried to draw parallels between the economic crisis in Sri Lanka to the poor fiscal situation in some Indian states. The states singled out for poor fiscal management were Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab.

The meeting began with a presentation on the crisis in Sri Lanka and was addressed by Union Minister for External Affairs S Jaishankar, who was accompanied by top officials from the Finance ministry. Jaishankar concluded that poor economic stability led to the crisis in Sri Lanka. He also went on to say that economic instability led to political instability. Jaishankar stated that Sri Lanka’s culture of giving freebies had a severe impact on the island nation’s fiscal health. This was soon followed by a presentation by the Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth.

The Economic Affairs Secretary began to name a few Indian states and discussed their present financial situation. Sources who attended the meeting told TNM that Kerala, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Punjab were named in the presentation. Led by Tamil Nadu, MPs of other states confronted the Union government as the meeting was called to discuss Sri Lanka and not the fiscal situation of states.

The states were called out for spending more than their earnings and also for their poor debt to GDP ratio. Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) MP Mithun Reddy who attended the meeting told TNM, “I told them that if the state's financial situations are being discussed then the Union government’s financial situation and how the debts have also increased should also be discussed to make it a holistic one.”

“Andhra was not among the first three states named by them. Other states were called out for different parameters discussed. We told them that some decisions of the Union Government have impacted states like Andhra Pradesh. We also reminded them of the promise given to Andhra regarding special category status and several other undelivered promises in the AP Reorganisation Act to tide over the financial situation. However, the truth is that Andhra’s financial situation has improved a lot. No state was targeted as such, we all got to respond with our point of view,” added the YSRCP MP.

Congress MPs P Chidambaram and Manickam Tagore, AIADMK’s M Thambidurai, YSRCP’s Vijay Sai Reddy and Mithun Reddy, TRS’s K Keshava Rao, DMK’s TR Baalu, MDMK’s Vaiko, CPI’s Binoy Viswam, NC’s Farooq Abdullah, AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi were among others who attended the meeting.

Speaking to TNM, Congress MP Manickam Tagore said, “Only opposition parties were called out by the Union government in the meeting for their financial situations. Punjab was the only non-south Indian state to be named. The discussion resulted in MPs from several parties opposing it. Congress MP Chidambaram enquired about India’s plan in solving the crisis in Sri Lanka. He also inquired about what the government thinks about the crisis.”

All MPs agreed that India needs to maintain a good relationship with our neighbours including Sri Lanka specially to protect the interests of the Indian community and the Indian businesses. Questions were also raised about the falling rupee value, increase in debts etc. AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi asked the Union government whether India had extended any help in providing a safe passage to Gotabaya Rajapaksha. He also inquired about Sri Lankan Muslims and other important issues relating to the Muslim community.

Speaking to TOI about the presentation on the states' fiscal health, union minister Jaishankar said, "We do not think that a Sri Lanka-like situation can arise in India. But there was a logic to what we were trying to do, we were trying to highlight the importance of fiscal prudence. So it was not that we highlighted one or two states, we had almost every state. There was no political intent in this."

"It was a data-based presentation of a comparative situation in India so that every political party and leader leaves with a good and clear message," he added.

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