Minister Priyank Kharge questions MEA’s ‘U Turn’ after being granted clearance for US visit

BENGALURU: Information Technology Minister Priyank Kharge was granted clearance by the Ministry of External Affairs for his US visit. Taking to ‘X’, Kharge mentioned that MEA has taken a ‘U-turn’ and revoked its earlier decision not to grant him permission for a US visit.

In his detailed X post, the minister highlighted that he sought permission for his US travel to represent the Karnataka government between June 14 and 27 on May 15 at two major global forums and hold 25 official meetings with top companies, universities and institutions for collaborations and pitch for investments.

He explained that the application for the minister and his delegation was submitted on May 15, which was later rejected on June 4. Kharge added that an application for the officer delegation without the minister was submitted on June 6 and it got clearance on June 11.

So in a U-turn, the Ministry of External Affairs has now decided to revoke its earlier decision and grant me a clearance for an official visit to the United States.

I had sought permission on 15 May to travel between 14–27 June to represent the Government of Karnataka at two…

— Priyank Kharge / ಪ್ರಿಯಾಂಕ್ ಖರ್ಗೆ (@PriyankKharge) June 21, 2025

Priyank Kharge revealed that his application for the KEONICS chairman position was rejected without any official explanation. The application was submitted on June 12 and cleared on June 14. The minister said that he addressed a press conference on the matter on June 19, explaining the chronology and raising concerns about the possible political interference.

Following the Ministry of External Affairs’ decision to grant clearance to Priyank Kharge for travelling to the US, he asked why his application was rejected in the first instance. Kharge queried whether MEA revoked its previous order to any kind of accountability after the matter became “public”.

Congress leader and General Secretary in-charge of Karnataka, Randeep Surjewala, on Saturday hit out at the Union Government after the Ministry of External Affairs denied Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge’s request to visit the USA.

Replying to Priyank Kharge’s ‘X’ post where he informed about writing to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar seeking clarification regarding why he was denied clearance from visiting the USA, Surjewala stated that the Union Government is acting out of “sheer” pettiness and is “marred with parochialism”. (ANI)