 "TN asks Center not to sell Naval ships to Sri Lanka")
In a letter to the Prime Minister today, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa said that there is a deep and widespread sentiment prevailing amongst all sections of Society and shades of political opinion in Tamil Nadu about the need to hold the Sri Lankan regime to account for the acts of genocide and war crimes committed in the closing stages of the civil war and the continued discrimination against the Tamil minorities in Sri Lanka who are treated as second class citizens in their own country.
The Chief Minister also said Sri Lankan Navy are intensifying their actions against fishermen from Tamil Nadu.
“Given the strength of the public sentiment in Tamil Nadu, I was quite sure that the Government of India would not supply any military hardware to Sri Lanka, particularly naval warships which could be potentially deployed against Indian fishermen in the Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar,” said the Chief Minister.
Even if there is a commitment under an old agreement for such supply of naval warships, in the present circumstances, the Government of India ought to have cancelled such an agreement, said the Chief Minister.
She also urged the Prime Minister to clarify this aspect without any delay and even if there is an existing agreement for supply of naval warships and requested to cancel the agreement immediately and ensure that no support of any kind is provided to the Sri Lankan military forces.