Centre nixes Kerala govt officials trip to UAE: Industries Minister P Rajeev calls it objectionable

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Industries Minister P Rajeev on Tuesday termed as ''objectionable'' the Centre's decision to deny permission to two officials from his department to visit the UAE for preparing the Kerala pavilion at the World Expo there.

The minister, in a release, said that permission to visit the UAE from November 10 to 12 was denied by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) without giving any reason.

Instead the MEA said that if necessary the officials -- Principal Secretary Dr K Elangovan and Director S Harikishore -- can go there in the first week of December, the release said.

The Expo, which started in October and will end on March 31 next year, had been organised by the MEA and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the Kerala pavilion is scheduled to be opened there from December 24 to January 6, 2022.

Rajeev, in the release, said that the Expo was an opportunity for Kerala to showcase its industrial and tourism potential to the international community and that is why the state government issued an order to send the two officials there to organise the initial activities.