Chennai

ChiefMinister C Joseph Vijay will embark on his first official foreign visit, travelling to London via Dubai on a week-long tour, sources said. According to preliminary information, the CM will depart from Chennai International Airport at 10 pm on Thursday aboard Emirates commercial flight EK 547 to Dubai, from where he will continue to London.

A high-level delegation comprising state government officials, departmental secretaries and personal aides will accompany the CM during the tour. An advance security team and personal assistants have already left for Dubai to coordinate arrangements.

The visit has been organised by the state’s Industries Department. As it is an official state mission, the entire expenditure for the overseas trip will be borne by the Tamil Nadu government through the Industries department.

Notably, while Vijay has conventionally used chartered flights for his tours within India, he will travel on a scheduled commercial flight for the overseas visit. Ahead of his departure, a multi-agency security and protocol review meeting was held at 11 am on Wednesday at the Chennai Airport reception complex.

Senior officials from various departments and security agencies attended the meeting, which reviewed security arrangements and other logistics for the CM’s departure.