CHANDIGARH: Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday criticised the Centre for denying him political clearance to visit Paris, where he has been invited to attend a food festival featuring a Markfed exhibition stall.Replying to a question, Mann told media in New Delhi, “What do we do? There is a food festival being held in Paris, and we received an invitation from the French govt, with Markfed putting up a stall. Earlier, I was also scheduled to travel to Japan for three days to watch the semi-finals and finals of the hockey matches. Since we are hosting the Men’s Hockey Asian Champions Trophy starting Oct 27, we also wanted to extend a formal invitation to them in person.”Hitting out at the Narendra Modi-led Centre, Mann added, “They simply refuse to give me permission (to travel abroad). It seems as though only PM Modi can tour the world—visiting even the most obscure places like Papua Guinea, ‘Manglesia,’ or ‘Changlesia.’ We have now moved the high court, and I hope to receive approval tomorrow. Our goal in traveling is strictly to benefit Punjab, attracting investors so we can create employment opportunities for our youth.”The food festival in question refers to SIAL Paris, touted as the world’s largest and most influential food innovation exhibition and trade fair held biennially at Paris Nord Villepinte exhibition centre.This is not an isolated incident, as CM Mann and his members have repeatedly been denied political clearance by the ministry of external affairs (MEA) for foreign visits. In Aug 2024, the Centre blocked Mann’s proposed trip to Paris to attend the Olympics and cheer on the Indian men’s hockey team, citing diplomatic and administrative reasons.Prior to this, Mann and then-industries minister Sanjeev Arora were denied approval for a planned investment outreach tour to the UK and Israel ahead of Progressive Punjab Investors’ Summit. More recently, MEA refused him clearance to travel to Japan for the Asian Games hockey semi-finals on security grounds.In Sept 2022, Punjab minister Aman Arora was refused approval for an official knowledge-sharing tour to Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Also, assembly speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan was denied clearance to attend a legislative speakers’ conference in the US in Aug 2024. Minister Harbhajan Singh was blocked from representing Punjab’s governance model at a conference in Boston in Aug last year.Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leadership has termed these rejections politically motivated, alleging partisan political discrimination by the Centre toward Punjab.In contrast, neighbouring Haryana’s chief minister Nayab Singh Saini has consistently been granted prompt political clearances for his international delegations and investment tours. Recently, Saini led a high-level state delegation on a three-day official visit to Singapore from Oct 4 to Oct 6 to pitch investment, urban infrastructure, and trade partnerships. Shortly after, on Oct 14, he embarked on another four-day official tour to Sweden to engage with international trade ministers and global investors.
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