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GL -Rajitha clash in credit sharing over fishermen’s release; poachers carry on
View(s):Two Ministers in the Cabinet are fighting it out publicly over who should take the credit for the release of detained fishermen both in Sri Lanka as well as in India.
The first salvo was fired by External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris last month. He claimed that the release followed a telephone conversation he had with Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid.
G.L. Peiris
This was to infuriate Fisheries Minister Rajitha Senaratne. He summoned a news conference and boldly asserted that EAM Peiris had “nothing to do with the release of the fishermen.” Mr. Senaratne said Mr. Peiris cannot “take credit for the release.” By the time Mr. Peiris called his Indian counterparts, the Fisheries Minister said, the Sri Lanka-India talks had concluded with the decision to release the fishermen in jails in Sri Lanka and India.
Not to be outdone, EAM Peiris hit back. His Ministry issued a news release on Friday to say that the “process for the reciprocal release of Indian and Sri Lankan fishermen in mid-January 2014 evolved from the constant engagement, including the Minister’s telephonic interaction, whilst in Jerusalem, with his counterpart Salman Khurshid.”
Minister Peiris also had an answer to Minister Senaratne’s advice at the news conference that he should address “important issues” including the upcoming UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. The External Affairs Ministry said that it is
Rajitha Senaratne
“solely responsible for the conduct of Sri Lanka’s foreign policy, implementing the agreed national policy objectives within the accepted norms of diplomatic practice, through the appropriate channels.”
The next round in the encounter seems delayed because Minister Senaratne is away from Sri Lanka. EAM Peiris too left for China to seek that country’s support for Sri Lanka to lobby member countries of the UN Human Rights Council.
While the two Ministers fight it out however, South Indian fishermen continue to poach in Sri Lankan waters at the expense of both, northern Sri Lankan fishermen and the Sri Lankan economy. The issue remains unresolved with the Indian Central Government deftly passing the problem to the Indian state Government of Tamil Nadu which is in no mood to stop its fishermen from illegal fishing in Sri Lankan waters.