Continuing attacks on Indian fishermen by SL Navy means PM Modi-led regime is ‘weak’: TN CM Stalin

PTI, Aug 18, 2023, 1:23 PM IST

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Friday said the continued attacks on Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan navy shows the Union government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was ”weak”.

Chairing a fishermen’s welfare conference here, he reiterated that retrieval of Katchatheevu, an island ceded to Sri Lanka by way of mutual agreements in 1974, was the permanent solution for the plaguing fishermen issue.

Stalin, who is the ruling DMK President, also said his father and late chief minister M Karunanidhi had provided a report that Katchatheevu belongs to India.

The Chief Minister’s reference regarding the ceding of the island comes days after PM Modi said it was the Indira Gandhi government which gave the Katchatheevu Island to Sri Lanka in 1974.

Modi had also said the current DMK government in Tamil Nadu keeps writing to him urging to retrieve the island.

Stalin further alleged attacks on Indian fishermen from the state by the Lankan navy has increased during the current NDA regime.

The conference condemned the harassment of and attacks on Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan navy.