Effusive in his praise of his half-sister Kanimozhi for her declaration in Spain that ‘unity in diversity’ is the national language of India, which has gone viral, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and ruling DMK president MK Stalin on Wednesday said he is proud of her.

“I am proud of Kanimozhi for speaking Tamil Nadu’s language of love and unity as India’s voice,” he said in a post on ‘X’. Interestingly, Kanimozhi’s statement comes in the backdrop of the language row between Tamil Nadu and the Union Government over ‘imposition of Hindi’ through the National Education Policy (NEP), which the Stalin government is steadfastly opposed to.

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She had made the comment in Madrid during an official visit, heading a delegation as part of India’s global outreach in the aftermath of the Operation Sindoor military operation against Pakistan. Besides receiving widespread appreciation and accolades, the video of her interaction on June 2 with Spanish officials and civil society had gone viral on social media.

When a member of the audience from the Indian diaspora asked what was India’s national language, her response without any hesitation. “The national language of India is unity in diversity. This is the message this delegation brings to the world and that is the most important thing today.”

“Congratulated @KanimozhiDMK for declaring loud and clear that the “national language of India is #UnityInDiversity” in the land of Spain and turning people’s emotions into huge applause and as a virally shared video by all of you. I am proud of my sister Kanimozhi for declaring Tamil Nadu’s language of love and unity as the voice of the Indian nation,” said the post, tagging a video of Stalin and Kanimozhi, who is also the DMK Deputy General Secretary and the party’s Parliamentary Party leader. Known for her political acumen, she is the women face of the Dravidian major.