Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president, M.K. Stalin will attend the preparatory meeting of G20 convened by the Prime Minister in New Delhi on Monday (December 5).
Stalin will travel to New Delhi on Monday morning and after participating in the meeting will return by night on the same day.
The Prime Minister’s Office has called the presidents of all political parties for a discussion on the G20. Many opposition leaders had earlier stated their reluctance to participate in the meeting. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who is in a confrontation path with the BJP and the Government of India has, however, confirmed her participation as the president of the Trinamool Congress.
The meeting will discuss the preparations for the G20 meet. The Centre has planned to conduct 200 meetings in 32 places across the country and Chennai has been chosen as one of the tentative cities for the G20 meeting.
India assumed the presidency of G20 on December 1 with the theme, ‘One earth- one family-one future’. Sources in the Tamil Nadu government told IANS that the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Chinese premier Xi Jinping at Mahabalipuram in 2019 had evoked a major interest of the Centre in Tamil Nadu. The recently held International Chess Olympiad was also another feat that has become a major feather in the cap of the state.
A senior official with the Tamil Nadu government told IANS, “There are several political issues between the Central government and the state government but Tamil Nadu is cooperating and we can also display our rich culture before the world. It’s a great opportunity which we don’t want to miss. We may choose either Thanjavur or Coimbatore for the G20 meeting.”
The Chief Minister, according to the Tamil Nadu government officials, will not have a one-to-one meeting with the Prime Minister during his Monday visit to New Delhi.
–IANS