Opposition parties, including the Congress and CPI(M), on Thursday trained its guns on the Centre asking it to remove obstacles in accepting foreign aid for rain-ravaged Kerala, including Rs 700 crore offered by the UAE, even as government justified the stand.

Union Minister Alphons Kannanthanam defended the Centre's decision, saying in refusing foreign aid for rehabilitation of the flood-hit state, the government has followed a 14-year convention it "inherited" from previous governments of not accepting such assistance in the face of natural calamities.