Thiruvananthapuram: The Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, seems to have a penchant for visiting foreign countries ostensibly under official visits. His publically stated reason for these visits is to bring foreign investments to Kerala. However, many people say that they have not witnessed any fruitful results from these visits till date that are beneficial to them.
The External Affairs Ministry (EAM) today denied permission to the CMs UAE visit to take part in an Investment Meet in Abu Dhabi. Apparently, the EAM believes that an investment meet does not necessitate a Chief Minister of a state to flying to a foreign country to take part in it. However, the EAM was not against officials attending the meet.
It is only natural that people ask that if the CM’s visits to foreign countries have only yielded little investments, then isn’t it better to send some official delegates to take part in these investment meetings?
Another reason that might have led the EAM to deny permission is the inappropriateness of the UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade, Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, directly inviting a Chief Minister of a state in India for the event. It is clear that the violation of the protocol and propriety was not lost on the EAM, when they decided to deny permission.
Reports say that Foreign Minister, S Jayashankar, had personally checked the documents provided by Pinarayi Vijayan’s office seeking permission for the visit. The documents also included the invitation sent by the Foreign Trade Minister of UAE.
However, the Chief Minister is not disheartened by these setbacks and has his eyes set to visit the US and Cuba in June. The state government will soon approach the Center to get permission for this visit. The itinerary planned by the state government is from June 8 to 18. He will first visit the US and then fly to Cuba.
The delegation will consist of eleven persons including the Finance Minister and the Speaker. He will be also accompanied by the Health Minister when he stops over at Cuba.
The CM is planning to go to the US to participate in the regional meeting of the Loka Kerala Sabha. He will also have a meeting with World Bank officials. Though it would be a strange sight to see communist leaders meeting with officials representing the center of capitalism, let us hope it can bring some positive changes to the people back home in Kerala.
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