The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Tuesday, May 30, approved Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's ten-day trip to the United States of America and the Republic of Cuba. The trip is scheduled for June 8 to 18. The CM will be accompanied by Assembly Speaker AN Shamsheer, Finance Minister KN Balagopal, State Planning Board vice chairman VK Ramachandran, Chief Secretary VP Joy, Chief Principal Secretary to the CM KM Abraham and others. Health Minister Veena George will join the team in Cuba on June 13.
In the US, the CM's delegation will attend the Loka Kerala Sabha-Pravasi Sangamam in connection with the second anniversary of the second consecutive term of Kerala’s Left Democratic Front (LDF) government, which is headed by the Communist Party of India (Marxist). The LDF government celebrated the anniversary on May 20. The team will also hold talks with senior World Bank officials.
The Union government had earlier denied permission for the CM's four-day trip to the United Arab Emirates, which was scheduled from May 7 to 11, as part of an investment meet and a couple of other events. The MEA had held that there was no need for the CM and ministers to attend such a meeting and asked for an official team to be sent instead. The CM was also supposed to have an interaction with Indian expatriates at the Abu Dhabi-Kerala Social Centre.