Several countries like the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Australia and Singapore have already banned travellers from India as well as other South Asian countries.
Tamil fishermen being attacked by the Sri Lankan navy has become a regular affair in Tamil Nadu. Most of these fishermen belong to two districts: Nagaipattinam and Ramanathapuram which includes the island of Rameswaram.
The National Human Rights Commission has issued a notice to the ministry of external affairs, based on a complaint filed by Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari, about barbaric killings of more than 500 fishermen in the past few decades by the Sri Lankan Navy.
Against the backdrop of frequent attacks against Indian fishermen allegedly by the Sri Lankan navy, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on Monday asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to advise Colombo in 'strong terms' to refrain from such 'uncalled for attacks'. Karunanidhi, who arrived in Delhi on a three-day visit on Sunday, met Dr Singh at his 7, Race Course Road residence and took up the issue of recent 'brutal attacks' by the Sri Lankan Navy on fishermen from TN.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Sunday requested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to facilitate a dialogue between fishermen associations in the state and Sri Lanka in Chennai in December following frequent attacks and arrests of fishermen by naval personnel of the island nation.
At least 32 Indian fishermen were arrested by the Sri Lankan navy for allegedly poaching in the country's waters off the coast of the Delft islet in Jaffna.
A day after Sri Lankan Navy released around 1,000 Tamil Nadu fishermen after detaining them for a day, thousands of fishermen from Rameshwaram launched an indefinite strike on Friday demanding protection and an end to recurring incidents of attacks by the island's navy.
The Sri Lankan navy on Wednesday detained as many as 327 Indian fishermen when they were fishing in the Palk Strait, and later released 227 of them, officials said.
If you are serious about countering the Chinese threat, then the best weapon is investing in real freedom, plurality, elections and democracy. Unfortunately, it isn't an approach all Indians currently seem to agree on, asserts Shyam G Menon.
India has lodged strong protest with the Sri Lankan government over the recent incidents of firing by the island nation's navy on Indian fishermen, a senior Coast Guard official said on Monday.
Expressing dismay over reports of Indian Coast Guard participating in naval exercises with Sri Lankan Navy, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Saturday asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to recall the two ships and Coast Guard personnel participating in the event in the island nation.
A Sri Lankan court on Wednesday ordered release of 19 Tamil Nadu fishermen, who were arrested by Lankan Navy for allegedly fishing in the island republic's waters on October 14, fisheries department officials said.
Tamil Nadu government has sought Centre's intervention in securing the release of 43 Indian fishermen arrested recently by the Sri Lankan navy, besides their 55 boats, which is under custody of that government.
Key United Progressive Alliance ally Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Saturday condemned the petrol price hike and demanded that the government retain its control on the pricing of petroleum products, besides seeking a change in the pricing policy. Party chief M Karunanidhi said the issue had become similar to that of attacks on Tamil Nadu fishermen -- allegedly by the Sri Lankan navy -- with political leaders issuing statements expressing concern during such incidents.
Defence and strategic experts on Monday said that China's posturing in the Indian Ocean will disturb stability and peace in the region.
A day after India lodged a strong protest against detention of its fishermen by Sri Lankan Navy, a court in the island nation on Friday ordered the release of 34 fishermen, officials of a fishermen association in India said.
At least 60 fishermen from Tamil Nadu were arrested by Sri Lankan Navy personnel while fishing near Katchatheevu on Thursday, an official from fishermen association said.
Strongly protesting the "abduction" of 49 fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to instruct the external affairs ministry to secure their release.
Taking exception to the continued arrests of Indian fishermen by Sri Lankan Navy, Tamil Nadu government has told the Centre that Colombo's "dubious actions" has resulted in the situation at sea remaining "precarious."
The incidents of arrests of fishermen and the recent firing should be viewed as an "indirect attempt to intimidate India and browbeat it into not raising its voice" against Sri Lanka on the innocent Tamils there in the international fora which is highly unacceptable, she said in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Taking strong exception to the recent arrest of Indian fishermen by Sri Lankan Navy, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Thursday requested the Centre to send out an "unequivocal" and "unambiguous" message to ensure that such acts cease hereafter.
India's external affairs ministry has said that the government will appeal against the judgment of a court in Sri Lanka to sentence five Indian fishermen to death.
Sri Lankan Navy on Wednesday intercepted a boat carrying 97 Tamil-origin Lankans, including 40 children, believed to be on their way to Australia illegally.
Voicing concern over increased attacks on Indian fishermen by Sri Lankan Navy, Tamil Nadu government has asked the Centre to initiate diplomatic steps to check it and urged for withdrawal of the 1974 agreement ceding Katchatheevu islet to the island nation.
The government has impressed upon the Sri Lankan navy to act with restraint and not to fire on Indian fishermen sailing along the International Maritime Boundary Line, Defence Minister A K Antony told the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Observing that Indian fishermen hailing from Tamil Nadu have been "traditionally fishing" in contentious Katchatheevu, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Thursday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to ask Colombo to stop its navy from harassing them.
Seeking a "decisive shift" in the Centre's stance vis-a-vis Sri Lanka on the arrest of Tamil Nadu fishermen, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Sunday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to secure the release of 33 fishermen, arrested by the island nation's navy, and ensure a lasting solution to the issue.
Alleging continued killing and harassment of Indian fishermen by Sri Lankan Navy, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa urged the Supreme Court to expeditiously hear its petition challenging the Centre's 1974 decision to cede Kachatheevu Island to the island nation.
Over 35 Chinese fishermen, detained by Sri Lanka for allegedly poaching in the country's waters were released on Monday within 24 hours of their arrest.
Twenty three fishermen from Tamil Nadu, arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy on July 22 when they were fishing near Katchatheevu in the Palk Straits, have been released, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said on Friday.
The Sri Lankan Navy has arrested another 11 Tamil Nadu fishermen late on Wednesday night, hours after they apprehended 36 fishermen hailing from a village in Pudukottai district while fishing near Neduntheevu and Katchatheevu islet, a fisheries department official said.
Two Indian nationals were among a group of 53 people bound for Australia arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy, the police said on Wednesday.
India has taken up with authorities in Colombo the issue of arrest of 23 Tamil Nadu fishermen by Sri Lankan Navy when they were fishing near Katchatheevu in the Palk Straits on Sunday, Ministry of External Affairs said in New Delhi on Monday.
Voicing her serious concern over increasing attacks on Tamil Nadu fishermen allegedly by the Sri Lankan navy, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Saturday said such assaults on Indian citizens should be viewed as "an act of provocation and aggression against India." Jayalalithaa conveyed her sentiments to Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai, who called on her in Chennai ahead of his three-day Colombo visit beginning on Saturday.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Thursday said he has requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide additional doses of COVID-19 vaccine to the state.
Rajya Sabha failed to transact any business for the second day on Thursday after uproar by members over the Telangana issue, killing of a student from Arunachal Pradesh in Delhi and plight of Tamil fishermen.
Twenty-two Tamil Nadu fishermen were injured in two separate attacks allegedly by the Sri Lankan navy which also briefly detained 16 of them while fishing near Katchatheevu in the Palk Straits, in the second such incident in as many days.
Five fishermen apprehended by Sri Lankan Navy for reportedly fishing in their territorial waters were brought back by the Indian Coast Guard on Monday after the island nation's naval personnel handed them over at the International Maritime Boundary Line.
Sri Lankan Navymen on Monday detained 14 fishermen from Tamil Nadu for allegedly fishing in their waters but freed them hours later on sighting an Indian Navy vessel near the International Maritime Boundary Line.
Certain media reports had recently claimed that on Sunday, a Sri Lankan Navy ship had rammed into an Indian fishing vessel, sinking it. This kind of false information may have been spread by Tamil nationalists, who on one hand are trying to defame the Lankan Navy and on the other, are publicly defending Rajiv Gandhi's assassins.
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