Health problems: gastrointestinal: CSU boss Söder has to break off India trip

CSU boss Markus Söder has to stop his trip to India due to an acute gastrointestinal infection. For health reasons, he could not continue the planned travel program, said a spokesman for the State Chancellery in Neu-Delhi. It was initially unclear where Söder infected himself.

In the evening, Söder actually wanted to continue traveling from the capital Neu-Delhi to the Bavarian partner province of Karnataka. His delegation continued the trip under the direction of State Chancellor Florian Herrmann (CSU). Söder himself initially stayed in the hotel in Neu-Delhi and will go home from there.

The capital of the province of Karnataka, Bengaluru, is considered a silicone-valley of India, a high-tech center that is also known for its shops. Here Söder wanted to have political conversations, visit a market and a temple complex. In addition, an agreement should be signed, which should further deepen the partnership between Bavaria and Karnataka. This should now take over Herrmann.

Return to Germany was actually planned for Wednesday

Söder has been a guest in India since Saturday. Since then he has made a large number of political and cultural appointments. The return trip for the night from Tuesday to Wednesday is officially planned.

In the morning the world was still in order for Söder. Söder used the time in Neu-Delhi for a visit to an aid project for children from poor quarters. “There is only poverty and no education in slums. No child can decide where it is born in the world. We all were extremely lucky and therefore have the duty to help others,” said the CSU boss when visiting the “Sunshine” project. Bavaria donated 10,000 euros for the project.

“Sunshine” enables free schooling thanks to donations

The “Sunshine” project enables children in poor quarters to form free schooling. It is financed by donations. Since there is no compulsory schooling in India, many parents from poor conditions send their children to work and beg instead of to school. At “Sunshine” (in German sunshine) the children learn to read and write. The aim is to break the spiral of poverty. A former student of the project told Söder in German that he now had a job as a translator.

Söder emphasized that the help for children is also “a concern of the heart”.: “As a Free State of Bavaria, we are very happy to support this important social project.”