M.K. Stalin who is the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on August 24, 2024 wrote to S. Jaishankar Union Minister for External Affairs reminding him that during this year alone, Sri Lankan Navy has caught 324 fishermen and seized forty four boats, and thus requested a quick action towards their release.
On Friday (August 23, 2024), Mr. Stalin said that as they were fishing off the southeast of Kodiakarai in Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu, 11 fishermen and one mechanized boat were taken into custody by the Sri Lankan Navy.
As he put it “I have said over and over again that these incidents are recurring too often. The arrests occur repeatedly making life unbearable for Tamil Nadu’s fisher folk whose main occupation is affected as a result of such arrests. In addition there have been two cases where unknown Sri Lankans attacked our fishers at sea within past few weeks; this must be addressed immediately,” he noted.
Mr. Stalin urged Mr. Jaishankar to put in place urgent diplomatic moves which would ensure that all the fishermen and their fishing boats are released promptly.
