Foreign Secretary TR Mathai called on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Saturday at the Secretariat on his way to Colombo to discuss the woes of Tamil fishermen.

Jayalalithaa highlighted the harassment of Tamil fishermen for the last five months. She spoke of incidents like on June 6, when four fishermen stranded on the Sri Lankan coast were apprehended by authorities there. Only a couple of weeks later, another 23 fishermen and five mechanised fishing boats were held. On July 4, 14 fishermen were held while there were several incidents of harassment by the Sri Lankan Navy. She recounted 16 such incidents since May 2011.

Jayalalithaa emphasised that such incidents should be viewed not as an assault on Tamil fishermen but as an assault on Indian citizens - an act of provocation and aggression against India by Sri Lanka. She insisted that the issue had assumed national proportions and was not limited to her State only.

The CM requested Mathai to take up the matter with the Sri Lankan Government during his visit. She sought verification of the traditional rights of fishing around Katchatheevu.  Jayalalithaa also asked for Sri Lankan Tamils living in camps to be resettled.  

Several officials from the Ministry of External Affairs as well as the State Government were also present at the meeting.