'Wrong To Deny Approval for My Singapore Visit': Arvind Kejriwal Slams PM Modi

He urged the Prime Minister to clear his visit to the 'World Cities' Summit' next month in Singapore.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal (right) and Prime Minister Modi.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, 17 July, to clear his visit to the 'World Cities' Summit' next month in Singapore. In a letter to the prime minister, he said that it is "against national interest" to stop a chief minister "from visiting such a huge stage."

Explaining the importance of this, he wrote that the former United States President Donald Trump had said that the entire world should witness Delhi's education system. The United Nations, too, had appreciated the 'Mohalla Clinics' in the city.

"It is wrong to hold the permission for attending the event. It is an opportunity to present the Delhi Model of governance at the world stage," he said.

Kejriwal was invited to the Summit by the High Commissioner of Singapore, Simon Wong, at a meeting on 1 June.

The Delhi chief minister claimed that he asked for permission on 7 June but is yet to receive it. Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has also not cleared the file, sources told news agency PTI.

'Prioritise National Interest Over Our Differences'

It is necessary, Kejriwal added, that the prime minister look past the differences in opinion between the Union government and the Aam Admi Party (AAP) and prioritise the country's international representation.

He also pointed out that when Modi was Gujarat's chief minister and the US had declined to give him an education visa, the entire country had stood by him.

"It is then, unfair and against the country, to stop me from going here," he said.

AAP also raised this issue at the all-party meeting held ahead of Parliament's Monsoon Session. The meet, convened by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, was held on Sunday.

In 2019, the Union government had denied approval to Kejriwal for a similar visit. It had claimed that it was "unbecoming of a chief minister" to participate in a meeting for mayors. Thereafter, Kejriwal addressed the meet online.