Thiruvananthapuram | As the bitter battle between the Tamil Nadu government and the Centre over the three-language policy continues, Kerala Higher Education Minister R Bindu said on Wednesday that the state has always encouraged the policy but firmly opposes the imposition of Hindi.

Bindu stated that Kerala wants students to learn multiple languages and has even established a Centre of Excellence for Language Networking.

"We want students to learn foreign languages as well, which is why we have set up the Centre of Excellence for Language Networking," she told reporters here.

However, the minister reiterated that the state opposes the imposition of Hindi.

"At the same time, we embrace tolerance towards all languages. Imbibing and assimilating different languages has been a part of Kerala's culture from the very beginning," Bindu said.

She further noted that Kerala's long coastline has historically attracted various groups of foreigners to the state, leading to linguistic diversity.

"From then on, we have embraced different foreign languages. Now, our policy is to encourage students to study multiple languages, with Malayalam, of course, being given prominence," the minister added.