Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann’s Europe visit cancelled as Centre delays clearance

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s visit to The Netherlands and Czech Republic has been cancelled after the Centre neither rejected nor granted political clearance to the state government delegation for it.

This is the third time that CM Mann has failed to get political clearance for his foreign visit. Last month, he was denied political clearance to visit the UK and Israel. Two years ago, he was denied clearance to visit France during the Paris Olympics.

The CM, accompanied by state Industry and Investment Promotion Minister Sanjeev Arora, was supposed to leave for the foreign visit tonight.

Official sources say that they have not heard from the Union Ministry of External Affairs about the political clearance, which left them in uncertainty.

As a result, the delegation, which also consisted of officers, has cancelled the visit.

The CM was to lead the delegation to the two European countries to seek investment for the state, ahead of the Investors Summit scheduled for

next month.