Protocol issues have forced the Central government to deny political clearance for Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran to travel to China to attend the General Assembly of the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) this month, the Ministry of External Affairs has clarified.
Union Minister of State for External Affairs V.K. Singh told a press conference here on Wednesday that the Kerala Minister was denied permission because the correct protocol arrangements were not made for the trip and he was not scheduled to meet the relevant person at that level.
Replying to questions, he said: “When we give political clearance, we take the view of our mission or embassy out there. If we find that correct protocol arrangements are not made, we will not allow our Minister to go because we do not want our people to be downgraded in the country they are visiting. It does not look good if some trade official or junior official is meeting the Minister. Here the prestige of the country is concerned, not that of the State, ” Mr. Singh said.
When reporters pointed out that Mr. Surendran was scheduled to meet the UNWTO Secretary General at the conference, Mr. Singh said: “That is not the information we got from the mission, we checked it up.”
The State government had taken strong exception to the Centre’s denial of permission to the Minister to attend the six-day international conference which began at Chengdu, China, on September 11. Mr. Surendran was scheduled to attend a session on “Tourism and Sustainable Development Goals & Building Partnerships for Development: the Example of the Belt and Road Initiative” at the UNWTO session on September 13.
Mr. Singh said efforts were on to resolve the problems faced by non-resident Indians on account of the surge in pricing of air tickets during the peak season. “The MEA is talking to the Civil Aviation Ministry to find a solution. We would like our people to travel by our airlines and ensure that the prices do not spike.”
On the State government’s demand to ensure that Indian embassies were equipped to respond to the problems faced by non- resident Keralites, Mr. Singh said: “The resource centre established in Dubai today works round-the-clock with a helpline facility in 16 languages. We are trying to ensure that the major Indian communities residing in other countries can raise their issues in their own language at the respective embassy.”
Mr. Singh said embassy officials were equipped to be responsive to issues. “Each and every official understands when a common man reaches out through Twitter or something and the action starts immediately.”
