Killing of TN fishermen in SL unacceptable; Indian Foreign Minister

Colombo (News 1st); India has taken up with Sri Lanka in the strongest terms the killing of Tamil Nadu fishermen in the island nation, and has made it very clear that such incidents are unacceptable, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar told Rajya Sabha on Wednesday (03).

The statement came after Tamil parties raised the issue of four fishermen from the state being allegedly killed by the Sri Lankan Navy while fishing mid-sea. "We have taken it up in strongest terms with the Sri Lankan government and this particular incident I think was particularly unacceptable and that has been made very very clear to them," Jaishankar said according to Indian media report. In a flurry of meetings a day after Sri Lanka backed out of an agreement with India and Japan, to develop the East Container Terminal (ECT) at the Colombo Port, Indian High Commissioner Gopal Baglay met President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena on Tuesday, official sources told The Hindu. The thrust of the Indian envoy’s message to the Sri Lankan leadership, sources said, was that Colombo must adhere to its commitments in the tripartite agreement of May 2019. The development has sparked alarm in India and Japan, according to diplomatic sources, who said Sri Lanka had neither conveyed its decision nor offered the alternative proposal to either of the partners, reported the Hindu.