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Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 13 (IANS) Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s upcoming Middle East visit has got a change after the External Affairs Ministry denied him permission to visit Saudi Arabia.
The revised program will now include Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE. Vijayan, along with Fisheries and Culture Minister Saji Cherian, will begin the tour with the first stop in Bahrain on Tuesday.
During the multi-country visit, Vijayan is expected to return to Kerala twice before the tour concludes on December 1.
Cherian told IANS that the programs in each country will focus on promoting the Malayalam language and connecting with the large diaspora Malayali community.
However, the Chief Minister’s foreign trip has once again been criticized by the opposition.
The Congress-led UDF has alleged that Vijayan’s frequent foreign trips since 2016 – more than two dozen visits to several countries – have failed to yield any concrete investment results.
The list of countries previously visited by the CM includes several visits to the UK, US, several European countries and the Gulf.
This year’s UAE leg is expected to come under special scrutiny. This coincides with the renewed focus on the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summons issued to his son Vivek Kiran Vijayan in 2023.
Incidentally, his son works in a multinational bank in the UAE.
The summons, revealed over the weekend, is related to the SNC Lavalin case now pending in the Supreme Court, in which the Chief Minister is also named.
Minor adjustments to the schedule are expected due to the denial of approval for the Saudi Arabian leg.
Meanwhile, speculation is rife over whether the chief minister’s family members, including his wife, daughter and grandson, will join the delegation, as was reportedly the case during previous foreign visits.
The visit, officially aimed at cultural outreach and diaspora engagement, is likely to be closely watched politically and publicly.
–IANS
SG/VD