Centre denies Telangana CM Revanth Reddy permission to visit US

Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has been denied permission by the Centre to visit the United States, the Chief Minister's Office said on Friday, Aug 21.

Reddy, currently in London on a UK-US trip under the state government's "TelanganaRising" initiative, had been due to travel on to Boston and New York before returning to Hyderabad on August 30.

"The official TelanganaRising delegation led by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has been forced to cancel their visit to the United States of America after the Ministry of External Affairs denied permission, saying clearance from a political angle is denied," a CMO statement said.

Reddy will now fly back to Hyderabad from London on August 23, instead of proceeding to the US leg of the trip.

According to the CMO, the state government had sought Central clearance for both the UK and US portions of the visit, but only the UK leg was approved. The Centre communicated its refusal on the US leg after the delegation had already arrived in London.

Reddy said the visit's purpose was to bring top global institutions to Telangana and Hyderabad as part of the Centre's own National Education Policy. "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.

He said he would comply with the Central government's decision and return to India from London, but instructed Telangana officials to proceed with the US leg of the trip as planned and finalise the MoUs and partnership agreements that had been lined up.

(With inputs from PTI)