Why Kerala minister’s China trip was not in national interest

On September 13, Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh had said protocol issues led the ministry to deny permission for the visit.

The visit by a Kerala minister to China was not in national interest and hence he was denied permission, the Ministry for External Affairs has said.

Kerala Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran was denied permission to attend a UN meeting in China last month.

The response from the MEA came following an RTI query by a Kochi based lawyer and RTI activist D B Binu.

The denial of permission for Surendran to attend the 22nd session of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation General Assembly at Chengdu between September 11 and 16 had triggered a row over its alleged political motives. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan termed the MEA move "unfortunate" and wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting him to reconsider the decision.

"Ministerial level participation at the aforementioned event was not deemed appropriate in the national interest," the response by Prasanna Srivastava, Deputy Secretary (China and Korea) stated.

The MEA received the minister's request for political clearance on August 23. Srivastava said in his response that requests for such clearances were examined as per guidelines issued by the Cabinet Secretariat and other relevant entities.

On September 13, Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh had said protocol issues led the ministry to deny permission for the visit.

OneIndia News