Modi Government  Bars Telangana CM From Visiting US

HYDERABAD – Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has cancelled his planned visit to the United States after the Ministry of External Affairs denied permission for the trip, the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said August 21.

Reddy, who left for London on August 19 for a 10-day visit to the UK and US, will return to India after completing his engagements in Britain. His official delegation was scheduled to leave for the US on August 23.

According to the CMO, the Telangana Rising delegation was informed that permission for the US visit had been denied on “political” grounds. The state government had sought Central permission for both the UK and US legs of the trip, as required under policy and protocol, but approval was granted only for the UK visit.

The Centre informed the state government of its decision after the delegation had already reached the UK, the CMO said.

Reddy said the US visit was intended to bring some of the world’s leading educational institutions to Telangana and Hyderabad as part of the Centre’s New Education Policy and expand opportunities for education, skills and training for young people.

“The only purpose of the visit was, as part of the New Education Policy of Centre, to bring the world’s best institutions to India, to Telangana, to Hyderabad,” he said. “They would have been an answer to our youth’s aspirations to get education, skills, and training from the best Ivy Leagues and top global institutions.”

Expressing shock at what he called the “political denial” of the visit, Reddy said he would comply with the Central government’s decision and return to Hyderabad from London instead of proceeding to Boston.

He nevertheless instructed Telangana officials to proceed with the planned US engagements and conclude all memoranda of understanding and partnership agreements.

Reddy will continue with his scheduled UK engagements, including visits and interactions with Oxford, Cambridge, the London School of Economics, London Business School and the University of London. He will also meet representatives of leading sports institutions and skilling organizations to explore partnerships with Telangana.

Meanwhile, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told the media, “Let me say that the visits of chief ministers, as indeed those of other dignitaries, are assessed by the Ministry of External Affairs in order to accord political clearance. The program proposed in such cases should be appropriate to the office held and the purpose of the visit. In this particular case, that was not so with respect to the United States. Therefore, the clearance was denied and not given.” (IANS)