Telangana Chief Minister's US Visit Denied Due to Non-Conformity with Norms

Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy was denied political clearance for his planned visit to the US because it did not conform to established norms, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Friday. The remarks came hours after Reddy's office said he had been forced to cancel his US visit after the MEA declined permission. "The visit of chief ministers, as in deed, other dignitaries is assessed by the Ministry of External Affairs in order to accord political clearance," MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. "The programme 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 in respect of the US," he said at his bi-weekly media briefing in response to a question on the issue. "Therefore, clearance has not been given. Incidentally his visit to the UK has been cleared," he added. Reddy, who is currently in London, had planned to visit the US after completing his UK trip. As permission for the US visit was denied, Reddy will return to Hyderabad on August 30, according to his office. The state government had sought the Centre's permission for both visits in line with policy and protocol, but only the UK trip was approved, it said. Reddy said the purpose of his US visit was to explore the possibility of bringing top American educational institutions to Telangana. "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," Reddy was quoted as saying in a statement issued by his office. "I have always believed we should all think beyond politics and elections when it comes to nation building and future of the youth," the chief minister said. There have been instances of the MEA denying political clearance to Arvind Kejriwal and Mamata Banerjee for overseas visits while they were chief ministers of Delhi and West Bengal respectively. (With inputs from PTI)