Najib Set To Create History With Chennai Visit

By B.Anbumani

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 18 (Bernama) -- Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's four-day visit to India beginning Tuesday is historic in that he will be the first Malaysian prime minister to make an official trip also to Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu, in southern India.

Before this, only Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, when he was the Malaysian prime minister, had held a brief unofficial meeting in 1983 with then Tamil Nadu chief minister M.G.Ramachandran, popularly known as MGR in his heyday as a Tamil film actor.

Newspapers in India, based in New Delhi and Chennai, have begun to give wide coverage to the forthcoming visit of Najib, whom they describe as a reformist prime minister.

The Indian media report that Najib's first official visit to India since becoming Malaysia's sixth prime minister last year will give new hope and fresh confidence to efforts to strengthen bilateral ties.

While the Indians in Tamil Nadu are looking forward to the maiden visit of a Malaysian prime minister to Chennai, the Indian Malaysian community in Malaysia is also impressed with Najib's approach to put Chennai on his itinerary.

This is because the Indian Malaysian community in Malaysia has had close ties with Tamil Nadu for years in terms of blood relationships, friendship, culture, religion and business.

As such, Najib's visit to Tamil Nadu is expected to get extraordinary media coverage.

It is understood that many Malaysian businessmen doing business in Chennai or Malaysia are deeply touched by Najib's decision to visit Chennai.

"He has proved himself to be the prime minister of all the communities through the 1Malaysia concept. Usually, (New) Delhi will the focus but for the first time a Malaysian prime minister will make an official visit to Chennai. Najib's open policy will mark a new chapter in relations between Malaysia and Tamil Nadu," said a Malaysian businessman running a textile business in Kuala Lumpur.

What's certain is that Najib's visit to Chennai during the ongoing "ponggal" (harvest) festival in Tamil Nadu will surely give new hope to both sides.

The highlight of the Chennai visit is a meeting between Najib and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister "Kalaignar" M. Karunanidhi, which will be another historic occasion in Kuala Lumpur-Chennai ties.

Karunanidhi is a popular leader among the Indian community around the world. He is also a poet, writer and expert in Indian literature well respected among the Indian community worldwide.

The meeting between Najib and Karunanidhi is expected to touch on issues related to tourist visas for Malaysian and Indian tourists, business opportunities in Chennai and Kuala Lumpur, and permits for the small business sector such as restaurants, hairdressing salons and so on.

Najib is also scheduled to meet with Malaysian businessmen as well as students, and this will be the first time the students will be able to have a face-to-face interaction with their prime minister.

Besides addressing the 16th CII Global Partnership Summit 2010, Najib is expected to hold a round-table discussion with several leading businessmen in India and open a Malaysian property exposition in Chennai.