Yogi likely to lead political delegation to China next month

NEW DELHI: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath is likely to lead the Indian delegation to China scheduled for next month.

This will be Yogi’s second official foreign tour after he assumed office as CM in March 2017. Yogi’s first overseas trip was to

Myanmar

in August 2017.

UP CM has been requested by external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj to lead a political delegation to China next month, a highly placed source said.

During the visit, Yogi is likely to interact with the top political leadership of China.

The choice of Yogi to lead a foreign delegation by the BJP’s top central leadership would further boost the political image of the UP CM who has emerged as a key pan-India figure for the saffron party.

The proposed visit to China has also comes after Yogi’s pitch to project Uttar Pradesh as a preferred investment destination at the two-day investors meet in February which managed to garner investment proposals worth around Rs 4.5 lakh crore across sectors for the state.

While the Myanmar trip revolved around culture and tourism, sources said this time Yogi is likely to sell UP as an investor-friendly destination before a Chinese audience.

Along with projecting UP’s soft power, the chief minister is likely to use the opportunity to highlight business opportunities in the state in sectors such as electronics, IT, infrastructure development and renewable energy during his visit.

While the final itinerary has not been finalised, a top source said along with political interaction, Yogi is also expected to woo the investors by marketing his state as the biggest market in India with 22 crore population.

In Myanmar, Yogi had used the occasion to market

Buddha

circuit before an international audience along with the Ramayana and Krishna circuits that his government has announced it would be developing.