The last few days have been rife with a controversy involving the Central government of India (a BJP-led coalition) and the southern State of Kerala, an Opposition party (Left Democratic Front) in power. It all began with an order issued by the State government, appointing IAS officer K. Vasuki to look after ‘external cooperation’, which sources in the government term as ‘confusing’.

The BJP in the State of Kerala was quick to point out that foreign policy and external affairs are all a domain of the Central Government in India’s federal structure and that the State had no authority to appoint a ‘foreign secretary’. As the controversy raged, the Chief Secretary of Kerala said this was nothing new and that Vasuki had been appointed as ‘foreign secretary of the state’ to help liaison better coordination with international agencies.

The State order (a copy of which is with us) issued on July 15 said that the General Administration (Political) Department would deal with the subjects related to external co-operation and would assist Vasuki till alternate arrangements are made.

“The Resident Commissioner, Kerala House, New Delhi, will support the officer in matters of External Co-operation, to liaise with the Ministry of External Affairs, Missions and Embassies etc.,” the order said.

Sources in the government, however, said the entire issue blew up because of ‘bad reporting’ by some in the media.

People familiar with the matter also point to the previous example of Venu Rajamony (a former diplomat who had served as India’s Ambassador to the Netherlands) who, in 2021, was appointed OSD (Officer on Special Duty) by the Kerala government. His job was to liaise with the Central government, foreign and Indian diplomatic missions, on issues related to the State diaspora across the world. A part of his job was also to coordinate with foreign governments when the State Chief Minister travelled out of India. Sources said that Vasuki’s job requirements are similar to the one that Rajamony did in the past so the entire controversy is uncalled for.

In a statement, the Chief Secretary of Kerala clarified that there was no post such as  ‘foreign secretary’, also criticising the newspaper report.

“Has the State government issued an order appointing a foreign secretary? No. Those sitting in the government are not ignorant of the basic fact that foreign affairs is the subject of the central government,” the statement read.

He also clarified that the news report was fake and that the State government had actually created a division for external cooperation sometime ago to help coordinate interactions with foreign agencies, multilateral institutions, and embassies for commercial, industrial, and cultural cooperation. “When news comes out, those who are interested in running an anti-government opinion without investigating its source and checking whether it is factual were seen responding to this fake news. Some even wondered if Kerala is turning into another country!” he said.

With this clarification, and sources in the Central government also pointing out that this was an uncalled-for issue, the matter seems to have died down for now. But the one thing this controversy has brought to the fore is the lack of trust between the State and the Centre, where the State government belongs to a party that is not aligned with the BJP. It will be interesting to see how, over time, such Centre-State tussles play out as both try to assert their authority and independence in various spheres. – Simran Sodhi is Executive Editor of nrifocus.com