Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has said that discussions on the location of the UAE consulate in Kerala are in the final stages, with Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi figuring as top choices.
The government is keen on having cordial relations with all the Gulf countries, and especially the UAE and Saudi Arabia, which hosts the maximum number of Keralites, the Chief Minister said.
He was speaking after releasing the Malayalam version of the book, ‘India and the UAE: In Celebration of a Legendary Friendship’ by President’s Press Secretary and former consul general to the UAEVenu Rajamony.
Chandy handed over the first copy of the book to Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi at a function held here on Sunday. The book is a modified version of an edition released in 2010.
The book cover has been designed by the late artist M F Husain. The translation of the book into Malayalam was done by M P Sadasivan and edited by Vinod John. It also contains drawings by Artist Namboothiri.
Union Minister of State for Foreign Affairs E Ahmed, Minister for Non-Resident Keralite Affairs K C Joseph, M A Baby MLA, Kerala State Higher Education Council vice-chairman T P Sreenivasan, historian M G S Narayanan and Galfar Group vice-chairman P Muhammadali spoke.