Chennai: Chief Minister M K Stalin urged Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to initiate immediate and concrete diplomatic efforts to secure the expeditious release of all Tamil Nadu fishermen, who have been apprehended by the Sri Lankan navy, along with their fishing boats.
In his latest letter on Saturday, Stalin expressed grave concern regarding the incident of apprehension of fishermen from Tamil Nadu on Friday.
‘A mechanized boat bearing Registration No IND-TN-06-MM-1054 and 11 fishermen were taken into custody by the Sri Lankan Navy while fishing southeast of Kodiakarai, Nagapattinam District,’ he said.
He said he had repeatedly highlighted that such incidents were occurring at an alarming frequency and that in 2024 alone, 324 fishermen and 44 boats were apprehended by the Sri Lankan Navy.
‘The fishing community in Tamil Nadu continues to face immense hardships due to the recurrent arrests, which severely affect their means of subsistence. Further, in the past two weeks, there have been a couple of instances of attacks on fishermen at sea by unidentified persons from Sri Lanka, and this issue needs to be addressed immediately,’ he said.
