India, March 25 -- The government has called an all-party meeting to brief lawmakers on the West Asia crisis on Wednesday, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave statements in both Houses on the crisis. Rajya Sabha's Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge contested the decision and demanded that instead of a briefing, the issue should be debated in the House.

According to functionaries, defence minister Rajnath Singh will chair the all-party meeting and external affairs minister S Jaishankar is expected to appraise the situation to the party leaders. The meeting would be held inside the Parliament building at 5pm, according to the parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju's office.

"The Rajya Sabha protocol demands that MPs can ...