Indian-origin minister Priyanca Radhakrishnan speaks in Malayalam in New Zealand Parliament

Christchurch: After Priyanca Radhakrishnan became New Zealand's first-ever Indian-origin minister earlier this week, an old video of her addressing the country's Parliament in Malayalam went viral on social media. Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri shared the three-year-old video on Twitter.

Born in India, Priyanca Radhakrishnan, 41, went to school in Singapore before moving to New Zealand to further education, according to news agency PTI. She was elected as a Member of Parliament belonging to the Labour Party in September 2017.

Three years later, she became the country's first Indian-origin minister after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern inducted five new ministers into her cabinet.

In the video, Ms Radhakrishnan, who has her roots in Kerala, can be heard speaking a few lines in Malayalam before saying, "Speaker, I believe that it's the first time my mother tongue, Malayalam, has been spoken in this house." The video is from a parliament session from November 2017.

"Doing India proud, the Indian origin minister in New Zealand @priyancanzlp addresses her country's parliament in Malayalam," wrote Puri while sharing the video on Twitter.