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Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has been forced to cancel the US leg of his overseas tour after the Ministry of External Affairs denied political clearance for his visit, stating that “clearance from political angle is denied”.
CM Revanth, who is currently in London, will now return to Hyderabad on August 23 instead of travelling to Boston and New York. His original itinerary included a visit to New York, where he was scheduled to attend an Indian Overseas Congress meet-and-greet. He was expected to return to Hyderabad on August 30.
The Telangana government had sought the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led Union government’s approval for the Chief Minister’s visits to both the UK and the US in accordance with established protocol. While permission was granted for the UK leg, clearance for the US visit was withheld. The decision was conveyed to the state government after the official delegation had already reached the UK.
Reacting sharply to the Union government’s decision, CM Revanth said the proposed US visit was aimed at attracting leading global educational institutions to Telangana and strengthening the state’s position as a knowledge and skills hub.
“The only purpose of the visit was to, as part of the New Education Policy of the Centre, bring the world’s best institutions to India, to Telangana, to Hyderabad,” he said, adding that such partnerships could have helped meet the aspirations of young people seeking world-class education, skills and training.
Expressing shock over what he termed a ‘political denial’, CM Revanth said the proposed engagements were intended to advance Telangana’s development agenda and contribute to the broader goal of a “Viksit Bharat”.
Despite cancelling his own US visit, the CM has directed state officials to proceed with the planned engagements in the US and complete the proposed memoranda of understanding (MoUs) and partnership agreements.