Chidambaram asks if border clashes figured in Modi-Xi exchange in Bali

The Congress and treasury benches were engaged in a verbal spat in the Rajya Saba on Monday after ex-finance minister P Chidambaram sought to know if the border situation figured during the brief exchange Prime Minister Narendra Modi had with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Bali.

As the senior Congress leader referred to a video of Modi's brief chat with Jinping in Bali during the G20 summit last month, treasury benches raised a protest, alleging he was deviating from the discussion on supplementary grants.

Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar asked Chidambaram to place the video on the table of the House later in the day.

Chidambaram said, "I just want to know, without going into details, was the border situation discussed? Don't tell me what you discussed."

The BJP's G V L Narasimha Rao objected to Chidambaram's demand through a point of order under Rule 110 which stipulates that discussion on a motion that a bill be passed shall be confined to submission of arguments either in