HYDERABAD: Congress leaders on Friday alleged that visa denials and cancellations prevented 115 of 315 invited speakers from attending the Bharat Summit in Hyderabad. The Ministry of External Affairs said visa matters were sovereign functions of a country or government, while the BJP described the gathering as an “anti-India summit”.

The two-day summit began on Friday and was scheduled to conclude on Saturday.

At a glance

  • Around 1,000 participants from India and 70 other countries were expected at the gathering.
  • The programme covered issues including climate change, infrastructure and investment.
  • Eight sessions focused on Telangana’s growth and development, Congress leader Salman Khurshid said.
  • The summit was planned as a precursor to the Invest Telangana Global Summit in December.

What happened

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said 115 of the 315 speakers invited to the second edition of the Bharat Summit could not reach India. Telangana Congress media in-charge Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy had earlier claimed that nearly 30 per cent of invitees were unable to travel because of visa-related problems.

Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy alleged that the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Home Affairs had stopped people who questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi from entering the country. He did not give a figure for those denied entry.

Tharoor questioned the legal basis for action against delegates who had been prevented from travelling. Since the summit was to end on Saturday, any reversal would come too late for the affected participants to attend, he said.

Norwegian journalist Helle Lyng, who was due to speak on the future of media and press freedom on Saturday, said she had been denied permission to travel despite receiving an Indian visa and political clearance. She said the Indian Embassy in Norway informed her that she could not travel and attributed the decision to orders from above in the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Who said what

Tharoor said it was a shame that a democracy had become insecure enough to suppress voices it feared would be critical.

Revanth Reddy said he did not understand why the BJP was concerned about diverse opposition voices. He alleged that Modi believed he could stifle all voices.

Asked about the allegations, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said visa matters were sovereign functions of every country or government.

Union Minister and Telangana BJP leader G Kishan Reddy said the event sought to bring together forces critical of India. Telangana BJP president N Ramchander Rao questioned why crores were being spent on the summit when the state government faced financial constraints. He accused Revanth Reddy of using public money to sponsor what he called anti-India forces to please Rahul Gandhi.

Khurshid said discussions on important policy issues were necessary. He said the organisers wanted Hyderabad to become a centre for global discussion, on the lines of Davos.

Background

The Bharat Summit was organised by the Telangana government as a platform for global discussion, Revanth Reddy said. The state government planned to hold the Invest Telangana Global Summit in Hyderabad in December.

The dispute over foreign delegates emerged on the opening day of the second edition of the event. Congress leaders linked the travel restrictions to the political views of the invitees, while the BJP questioned the purpose of the event and its expenditure.

What next

Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, was scheduled to attend the summit on Saturday. Revanth Reddy said Gandhi would unveil Telangana’s policy on gig and platform workers and address the gathering before the event concluded.