PM Modi meets Jaya over lunch at Poes Garden

Tamil Nadu Governor K. Rosaiah, Union Minister of State for Textiles Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways and Shipping Pon Radhakrishnan and Tamil Nadu Minister for Finance and PWD O. Paneerselvam were present on the occasion.

The chief minister sought the deployment of central security forces at the Mulla Periyar dam in Kerala, which is maintained and used by Tamil Nadu.

Speaking at the celebrations of the first National Handloom Day in Chennai, the prime minister called for a major marketing push to sell handloom products overseas.

“We now also need to give a similar call for handlooms, we have many options to enhance use handlooms in our daily lives”, added the Prime Minister.

He expressed the hope that the handloom sector of India will acquire a distinct reputation at the global stage and that the industry would play a distinctive role in national development. She urged the Centre to take efforts through diplomatic channels to release the 31 Tamil Nadu fishermen and 23 boats now in Sri Lankan custody.

Jayalalithaa said she in her personal capacity filed a srit petition in the Supreme Court in 2008, and the Tamil Nadu government impleaded itself in the case in 2011.

Jayalalithaa said Katchatheevu was ceded to Sri Lanka illegally because the Supreme Court had ruled in 1960 that any territory owned by India can be given away only through a constitutional amendment.

But Katchatheevu was ceded to Sri Lanka illegally.

“The unconstitutional ceding of the island and the fishing grounds in the vicinity have emboldened the Sri Lankan Navy to resort to frequent attacks on our innocent fishermen who fish in their traditional fishing grounds”, the CM wrote.

According to Jayalalithaa, this should eventually lead to the Tamils of Sri Lanka realizing their “legitimate aspirations”.

“Though there have been several resolutions in the first round of talks at Chennai, the second round at Colombo failed due to the obduracy of the Sri Lankan foreign ministry officials”. With Tamil Nadu polls scheduled next year, this is being seen as an attempt by the BJP to make inroads into the south.

She urged Modi to protect the fishing rights of Tamil Nadu fishermen.