MEA blocks Revanth’s US tour, forces CM to turn back from UK | Hyderabad News
Hyderabad: Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy was on Friday forced to cut short his two-nation tour to the US and UK after the Ministry of External Affairs refused him permission to visit the US for an unspecified ‘political angle’. He had left for the UK immediately after attending the Congress Working Committee meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday. He will continue his visit there and return to India seven days earlier on Aug 23.The refusal sparked a major controversy with senior Congress leader and govt whip Adi Srinivas accusing the BJP of politicising even an “education-related tour”. He slammed the saffron party leaders for making baseless allegations against Revanth. BJP MP D Arvind, on the other hand, alleged that the chief minister had proposed to meet representatives of universities who were connected to “anti-national forces”.In a statement from London, Revanth said, “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. 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. I have always believed we should all think beyond politics and elections when it comes to nation building and the future of the youth’” he said.The delegation, which includes advisor and ex-officio special chief secretary to CM K Ramakrishna Rao, MCRHRD director general and former chief secretary A Santhi Kumari and Congress leader C Rohin Reddy among others, will now visit the US without Revanth. The plan is to attract managements of top universities and prestigious educational institutions in both countries and urge them to set up campuses in the upcoming Bharat Future City on Hyderabad’s outskirts.After the permission was denied, the chief minister’s office claimed: “The official Telangana Rising delegation led by CM Revanth has been forced to cancel their visit to the United States of America (USA) after the Union external affairs ministry denied permission stating `clearance from political angle is denied.’”An MEA spokesperson on Friday evening, however, said that the programme proposed for the CM’s US tour was not appropriate, but did not give details.Revanth added, “A single school – Hyderabad Public School – has shown how we can lead the world, producing some of the greatest tech leaders (Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen and World Bank group president are alumni of the school). The starting of IIT, ISB, IIIT, Nalsar helped Hyderabad attract top corporations and their GCCs. Now, we will make Hyderabad the home for the world’s greatest education and skills institutions to power our 21st century journey.”During his time in the UK, the CM will be interacting with representatives from University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, London School of Economics, the London Business School and University of London, among others. He will also meet with top sports institutions and skilling leadership in the UK.
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