Jain denied permit for Australia meet: Govt

NEWDELHI: The Delhi government on Saturday said the Union ministry of external affairs declined Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain’s request to permit him to travel to Australia for a dialogue on mohalla clinics.

A statement released by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government said Jain was to visit Australia on the invitation of the University of Melbourne and George Institute in Sydney for a dialogue on “Mohalla clinics and the health revolution of Delhi” with the Victorian government. The visit was scheduled between November 26 and 30.

“…The MEA has denied him (Jain) permission to travel due to a ‘political angle’ … They (BJP) does not want the Delhi government to showcase its good work and hence it denied Jain’s visit to Australia,” the statement said.

“I would like to know the exact reason behind the MEA’S politi- cal angle,” the statement quoted Jain as saying.

The AAP government’s statement said it was obvious that the Centre was not bothered about the country and, in fact, was more interested in “crushing their political opponents”.

AAP’S chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj on Saturday tweeted a picture of what he said was the MEA’S response to Jain’s request to visit Australia, which said, “With reference to the application for political clearance for the visit of Satyendar Jain to Australia, 26-11-2018 to 30-11-2018, for an important opportunity for sharing the deliberations in the field of united healthcare and public health, epolitical clearance of the MEA from political angle has been declined by the ministry.”

Later in the day, CM Arvind Kejriwal also took to Twitter and asked, “Why the Modi government denied permission? What is the ‘political angle’?”