New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in a tweet on Thursday he was undergoing treatment for kidney related problems and infections. “The future course of my treatment would be determined by the doctors treating me,” Jaitley said in a tweet.
I am being treated for kidney related problems & certain infections that I have contracted. I am therefore currently working from controlled environment at home. The future course of my treatment would be determined by the doctors treating me.
— Arun Jaitley (@arunjaitley) April 5, 2018
Jaitley is to undergo a major surgery for which he is likely to be hospitalized this weekend, people familiar with the development had said on Wednesday. His health problem is related to his renal functions, and may require a kidney transplant, said the people cited earlier, requesting anonymity. A finance ministry spokesperson could not immediately offer a response.
The finance minister cancelled a visit to London next week for annual economic talks, government officials said on Thursday. He went to AIIMS in Delhi for tests related to a kidney ailment, officials at the finance ministry and at the hospital told Reuters. A medical report is due on Friday, one of the finance ministry officials said, requesting anonymity.
Jaitley, 65, was due to meet Britain’s finance minister Philip Hammond at the India-UK economic dialogue and deliver a talk on “Looking Ahead to 2022: India’s Global Vision” at Chatham House, a policy think tank. The organisers of the talk said the programme had been cancelled, without giving a reason.
“He will not visit London next week as he is not keeping well,” one of the Indian officials said.
Jaitley skipped a meeting of finance ministers from the Group of 20 countries in Argentina last month. He told Reuters at the time he was not in a position to take a long flight.
In 2014, he had a gastric bypass operation to keep his diabetes in check.
Jaitley is a key member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet, and has been driving economic reforms even in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)’s final year in office before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.