The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs and Union Cabinet meeting is scheduled to be held today.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) and Union Cabinet meeting is scheduled to be held today. The meeting is likely to be held at 6:30 pm.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday lauded the "rich level of debate" in Lok Sabha on the Ukraine situation and evacuation of Indian citizens through Operation Ganga and said there is bipartisanship on matters of foreign policy which augurs well for India at the world stage.
Four union ministers - Hardeep Singh Puri, Kiren Rijiju, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Gen VK Singh - who went to countries neighbouring Ukraine as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's special envoys during the evacuation effort also took part in the debate.
Congress members talked of the relevance of principles of non-alignment in the complex geopolitical situation created by the Ukraine-Russia crisis.
In his reply to the debate, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said India is "first and foremost" strongly against the conflict.
He said no solution can be arrived at by shedding blood, and at the cost of innocent lives and in this day and age, dialogue and diplomacy are the right answers to any dispute.
The minister said the contemporary global order has been built on the UN Charter, on respect for international law, and for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states.
"If India has chosen a side, it is the side of peace, and it is for an immediate end to violence. This is our principled stand, and it has consistently guided our position in international forums and debates including in the United Nations," Mr Jaishankar said.
Other than this, India is also providing food and fuel to Sri Lanka to help them cope with the ongoing economic crisis in the Island Nation, Minister of State for External Affairs Dr Rajkumar Ranjan informed on Monday.
Notably, according to the International Monetary Fund report, India has averted the rise in extreme poverty through the food security scheme, Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY).
A new IMF paper found that extreme poverty (less than PPP USD 1.9 per person per day) in India is less than 1 per cent in 2019 and it remained at that level even during the pandemic year 2020.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's food security scheme, the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, has been critical in preventing any increase in extreme poverty levels in India during the COVID-19 pandemic, added the report.
The Budget session began on January 31, 2021. While its first half concluded on February 11, the second half of the Budget session of Parliament which began on March 14 will conclude on April 8.
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