PMO stalls Chandrababu Singapore visit

The big plans of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu to become a role-model CM by replicating Singapore model in AP capital city has been shattered by the NDA led centre.

The AP CM was forced to cancel his Singapore visit plans as he 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. Naidu planned to fly to Singapore on March 25 to pay homage and return but the trip was not okayed.

The state government is now awaiting instructions from the Centre on the proposed visit of the combined delegation to Singapore. A decision on whether Chandrababu will accompany the PM or not will be known today. AP government advisor (communications) Parakala Prabhakar says that the AP CM will either join the PM's caravan or 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 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.