Chandrababu Naidu’s Singapore trip dropped, may go with PM Modi

Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and his team have cancelled their plans to visit Singapore and pay homage to the island country’s first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew. However, they did not get the political clearance for the trip from the Union ministry of external affairs.

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to attend Lee Kuan’s funeral on March 29, the request of the AP government for its CM’s visit didn’t get a green signal. Mr Naidu was supposed to fly to Singapore on March 25 to pay homage and return. A request was sent to the Centre on March 24 evening, seeking clearance for the Singapore visit. But the trip was not okayed.

The state government is now awaiting instructions from the Centre on the combined delegation to Singapore. Mr Naidu is likely to be a part of this delegation. Sources said there will be clarity on Mr Naidu’s visit on Thursday.

AP government advisor (communications) Parakala Prabhakar said, “The Government of India wants the CM to be a part of the combined delegation, which will be led by the Prime Minister, to Singapore to avoid multiple delegations from India. Secondly, instead of paying homage, the delegation can attend the funeral service on March 29.”

According to officials, as per the norms, for a Chief Minister’s foreign visit, the approval of the PM  must be obtained by the department of economic affairs, after the political clearance from the ministry of external affairs.

After Mr Modi took over as PM, he streamlined foreign travels by CMs and ministers in state. A new directive has been issued that makes it mandatory for them to not only inform the Centre about the “proposed visit” but also apprise it once they return.