External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar expressed his disappointment on Thursday after his statement in Rajya Sabha on India's foreign policy was disrupted due to repeated sloganeering by the Opposition. Taking a swipe at the name of the Opposition alliance, Jaishankar said "they claim to be 'INDIA'" but were not prepared to listen about India's national interests.
"If you claim to be 'INDIA' but if you are not prepared to listen to India's national interests, then what kind of India are you," Jaishankar said after the Rajya Sabha session was adjourned.
"If you cannot respect President, Vice President, Prime Minister...if you won't allow External Affairs Minister to make a statement in Parliament, then it's a very sorry state of affairs," Jaishankar further said.
Speaking to reporters outside Parliament, Jaishankar said he wanted to inform the House of the developments made in the past month related to foreign policy. He said politics should be set aside when matters related to national interest were discussed.
"You saw a very successful visit of the PM to the US...I felt bad that the Opposition was not ready to listen. It seemed that they wanted to criticise any and every achievement of the country. Foreign policy is an area where we usually work together. We may debate within the country but outside the country, we should display a united front," Jaishankar said.
READ | 'INDIA Vs Modi': Battle Of Slogans In Rajya Sabha During Jaishankar's Statement — Watch
During Jaishankar's speech in the Rajya Sabha, NDA MPs were seen chanting "Modi, Modi" slogans. To counter this, Opposition MPs started chanting "INDIA, INDIA", leading to a ruckus and adjournment of proceedings.
Reacting to the development, Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha, Piyush Goyal said people wearing black clothes would not understand the increasing power of the country. Opposition MPs of INDIA alliance on Thursday came to Parliament wearing black clothes to protest over the Manipur situation as they demanded a reply from Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the issue.
"Unfortunate that politics is being done even on such a serious matter. This is a matter of India's honour, a matter of India's emerging image before the world...I think that the people who are wearing black clothes can't understand the increasing power of the country....Their present, past and future are black. But we hope there will be light in their life too," Goyal said after Jaishankar's speech was disrupted.