PLANS IN PIPELINE TO TWIN CHENNAI-KL CITIES

By P.Vijian

NEW DELHI, Dec 24 (Bernama) -- Senior Malaysian officials are floating the
idea to twin Chennai and Kuala Lumpur (KL) as sister cities to bolster the
existing deep-rooted bilateral ties between Malaysia and India.

Officials in KL are believed to have proposed the idea and are likely to get
the cabinet's approval to move the plan to twin both the fast-growing cities.

"It will augur well for both nations because we have very long-standing
relations, especially with South India, where many of the Indian population have
originated from Tamil Nadu.

"It will give a different political dimension to our relationship and boost
the two-way trade and cultural linkages," a high-level Malaysian official
familiar with the proposal told Bernama.

However, the political arrangement would need the endorsement of India's
External Affairs Ministry in Delhi before the idea could be taken to a different
level.


Chennai city in Tamil Nadu has established sister relationships with five
other cities around the globe -- Cairo, Egypt, Denver, United States (US),
Frankfurt, Germany, San Antonio, US and Volgograd in Russia.

Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu state, has a population of over eight
million while Chennai city itself has about 4.5 million people.

At least 14 major Indian cities have sister relationships with foreign
cities worldwide.

-- BERNAMA