Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s proposed meetings with US Vice President JD Vance and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani were among the engagements planned for his US visit, but the programme was not routed through the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), sources have told NDTV.
Because the purpose and programme of the trip did not conform with established norms, the external affairs ministry said on Friday, earlier reporting noted: Revanth Reddy’s US trip hits a wall, MEA denies clearance Telangana chief minister and Congress leader A Revanth Reddy was denied political clearance for a planned visit to the US.
Government sources told NDTV that the decision was taken on technical grounds and was not linked to any political disagreement between the Centre and the Telangana government. Earlier reporting noted: MEA says proposed US programme did not meet clearance norms MEA says proposed US programme did not meet clearance norms
Earlier reporting noted: When external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal was asked about the matter at a regular media briefing in Delhi, he replied: “The visit of chief ministers, as indeed of other dignitaries, is assessed by the ministry of external affairs in order to accord political clearance.
On Friday, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the ministry had approved Revanth Reddy’s UK visit but rejected the proposed US travel. The MEA assesses proposed foreign visits by Chief Ministers and other dignitaries before granting political clearance. The programme is examined in the context of the office held by the dignitary and the stated purpose of the visit. The issue came into focus after the Telangana government alleged that the Centre had denied clearance to the Chief Minister’s US visit.
Sources in the Union government said the proposed programme for the US visit included meetings with Vance and Mamdani. However, these engagements had not been discussed with the MEA or routed through the ministry as part of the political clearance process, sources said. Government sources said the issue was not about the Chief Minister travelling to the US itself, but about whether the proposed programme was appropriate for the office of a state Chief Minister and had been properly processed through the MEA.
