India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said Friday that Sri Lankan authorities are arresting Indian fishermen because of an Emergency-era agreement that gave up fishing rights in some areas.
“At the time, several big decisions would be taken without a debate. These days, there is a discussion about our fishermen going to Sri Lanka and getting arrested there. That is because of an agreement signed with Sri Lanka at the time of Emergency under which the rights of the fishermen to fish in some part of Sri Lankan waters were given up by us,” he said at a BJP youth wing event to mark the 50th anniversary of the Emergency.
Tamil Nadu’s DMK government has repeatedly raised the issue with the Union government. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this year, calling for the return of Katchatheevu island that was handed over to Sri Lanka through agreements signed in 1974 and 1976.
The decades-old dispute resurfaced last year after Modi posted on X that the Congress “callously gave away” Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka in the 1970s.
Government data shows Sri Lanka has arrested more than 528 Indian fishermen in 2024.
Jaishankar said: “If it wasn’t for an Emergency Parliament, if Parliament at the time was a genuine Parliament, there would have been a debate and I don’t know if the Parliament would have allowed such an agreement,” he said. “The decisions taken at the time still show their impact in the state of Tamil Nadu.” The state is expected to go to the polls next year.
The External Affairs Minister also took aim at the Congress party, stating that one family’s interests were placed above the nation during the Emergency.
“There’s a movie titled Kissa Kursi Ka… these three words aptly tell the reason behind the imposition of the Emergency. When a family is considered above the nation, things like Emergency take place,” Jaishankar said.
He stated that during that time he was a 20 year-old student at Jawaharlal Nehru University, and the biggest lesson from the Emergency was to never take one’s freedom for granted.
In a reference to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Jaishankar said: “Some people flash the Constitution in but the feeling in their hearts is different… Political parties also have a DNA and they have, to date, never expressed regret for imposing Emergency.”
Responding to the remarks, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X: “What I can tell the EAM is to please tell us what President Trump is saying. What is his trade deal? Why is President Trump repeatedly claiming credit for the ceasefire? EAM would be well advised to deal with the complete collapse of Indian diplomacy… He should be worried about repairing the damage to Indian diplomacy rather than getting into the history of what happened 50 years ago.”
Later, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the event, Jaishankar hailed the global outreach after Operation Sindoor. “I have a great sense of pride when I see Parliamentary delegations led by Shashi Tharoor, Supriya Sule, Kanimozhi, Sanjay Jha, Jay Panda, Ravi Shankar Prasad, and Shrikant Shinde…. when I see unity among all parties going out in the world, speaking in the national interest,” he said.
He also spoke about India’s refusal to sign the SCO joint statement, saying the objective of the grouping that runs through consensus was to fight terrorism. “In the discussion on the outcome document of the Defence Ministers’ meeting, one country said ‘no we don’t want reference to that’,” he said. Pakistan is learnt to have raised objections at the SCO defence ministers’ meeting.
(Indian Express)