Stalin embarks on European tour to scout for investment

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin is embarking on a week-long tour of Germany and Britain on Saturday to attract fresh investments to the state. This is part of his efforts to achieve the goal of making the state a US Dollar One Trillion economy.

Speaking at the marriage function of DMK Rajya Sabha MP and senior counsel NR Elango, the Chief Minister said he would be unveiling the portrait of rationalist reformer and Dravidian icon ‘Periyar’ EV Ramasamy at the prestigious Oxford University during his stay in London. He would also address scholars, researchers and students at Oxford besides interacting with industry captains at Cambridge University.

Advertisement

Feeling elated at Periyar, who led the non-Brahmin movement, the Chief Minister in an ‘X’ post wrote “Periyar goes global! “Oppression is my enemy” the rallying cry of Periyar now resonates at #Oxford. Marking the centenary of the #SelfRespect Movement, I will unveil Thanthai Periyar’s portrait at the University of Oxford on 4th September and release two books that chronicle its hundred year journey and living legacy.”

“Before an assembly of international scholars, the movement that set ablaze caste tyranny and burned down barriers of gender in Tamil Nadu will be placed in dialogue with struggles worldwide for dignity, equality and freedom. #Periyar’s ideals of equality are not bounded by borders, they belong to humanity as a whole,” the post read further adding “All are born equal, Periyarism is for the whole world.”

According to official sources, the Chief Minister will land in Germany on August 31 and have interactions with corporates besides meeting the Tamil diaspora. Leaving Germany on September 1, he will engage with industrialists at Cambridge and on September 4, will address the event at Oxford. After completing his engagements in the UK, he will return on September 8.

According to the Chief Minister, his previous foreign visits have yielded Rs 10 lakh crore investment since there is a keen interest in investing in the state. The present tour is the fifth being undertaken by Stalin.

However, opposition parties including the AIADMK, BJP and PMK have disputed the claim of the government and demanded a white paper on the investments that the state had secured in the previous foreign visits.