Whenever we stand up to speak, we are stopped: Rahul Gandhi in Lok Sabha
New Delhi (PTI): Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday interjected a Lok Sabha debate on the resolution to remove Om Birla as Speaker, saying that he was stopped from speaking in the House on multiple occasions.
Responding to BJP's Ravi Shankar Prasad, who cited parliamentary procedures to say that the leader of the opposition should measure his words carefully, especially on issues of national security, Gandhi said the House does not belong to any party but the entire country.
"Whenever we get up to speak, we are stopped. Lok Sabha does not belong to one party but to the entire country," he said.
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Earlier, participating in the debate on the resolution against Birla, Ravi Shankar Prasad had said that the motion to remove the Speaker from his post should not be weaponised to "satisfy" the ego of a leader.
He said it was painful that the House is discussing the resolution as it is the result of the ego of a leader.
Quoting Practice and Procedures of Parliament, Prasad said the leader of the opposition should measure his words carefully, especially on issues of national security, and that he should eschew partisan politics.
This led to an uproar from the opposition.
Later, Dilip Saikia, who was chairing the proceedings, allowed Gandhi to respond to the allegations.
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Russian First Deputy PM Manturov meets PM Modi; discusses trade, energy ties
New Delhi (PTI): Russia's First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov on Thursday called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discussed ways to strengthen bilateral ties in areas of investment, energy and industrial cooperation.
Manturov, on a two-day visit to India, also held talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
The Russian embassy said Modi and Manturov discussed "specific steps to implement agreements reached" during the India-Russia summit held in December last.
"Particular attention was paid to further strengthening Russia-India trade, economic, investment, energy and industrial cooperation," it said on social media.
In their meeting, Doval and Manturov were learnt to have discussed bilateral defence cooperation besides the evolving regional security situation.
The Russian first deputy PM's visit to New Delhi comes days after India cleared procurement of a fresh batch of five S-400 missile systems from Russia.
The decision to procure the additional batch of five S-400 air defence missile systems was taken against the backdrop of the missile system proving its capability during Operation Sindoor.
The missile system played a crucial role in India's dominance over Pakistan during the May 7-10 hostilities last year.
In October 2018, India had signed a USD 5 billion deal with Russia to buy five units of S-400 air defence missile systems, notwithstanding a warning by the US that going ahead with the contract may invite US sanctions under the provisions of Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
Three squadrons have already been delivered.
In the talks, the two sides are also expected to exchange views on the West Asia conflict and its impact on global economy, especially on the energy sector.
It is learnt that both sides also reviewed the implementation of decisions taken at the summit talks between Prime Minister Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin in last December.
Following talks between the two leaders, India and Russia unveiled a raft of measures including a five-year roadmap to build a robust economic partnership and to increase the annual trade to USD 100 billion by 2030.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov last week lauded India's "independent foreign policy" and said that Russia looks forward to welcoming Prime Minister Modi for a visit this year.
In an address at a conference titled 'India and Russia: Towards a new bilateral agenda', he said the "time-tested" friendship between the two countries is a model on interstate relations based on mutual trust and respect.
