NEW DELHI: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday said political clearance was denied for Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy’s proposed visit to the United States, saying the programme submitted for the trip was not considered appropriate to the office he holds and the purpose of the visit.MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal in his briefing said visits by chief ministers and other dignitaries are assessed by the ministry before political clearance is granted.“Let me say that the visit of chief ministers, as indeed of other dignitaries, are assessed by the Ministry of External Affairs in order to accord political clearance,” 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 United States, and therefore the clearance was denied,” he said.Jaiswal, however, clarified that the Centre had granted political clearance for Reddy’s visit to the United Kingdom.
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“Incidentally, let me also tell you that clearance was given for his visit to the United Kingdom,” he said.The MEA’s clarification came hours after the Telangana CM office said Reddy’s proposed US visit had been cancelled after the Centre denied permission on “political grounds”.Reddy is currently in London as part of an official TelanganaRising delegation. He was scheduled to travel to the US after his UK engagements and return to Hyderabad on August 30.According to the Telangana CMO, Reddy will now return to Hyderabad on August 23 instead of travelling to Boston.“The official TelanganaRising delegation led by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has been forced to cancel their visit to the United States of America (USA) after the Ministry of External Affairs has denied permission, saying … clearance from political angle is denied,” the CMO said in a release.The Telangana government had planned the US leg as part of its TelanganaRising outreach, with the CM scheduled to engage with stakeholders during the proposed visit.