Tamil Nadu’s Minister for Dairy Development said his government had rejected a proposal to sell milk to the Sri Lankan military, stating that the armed forces were responsible for killing tens of thousands of Tamils.
K T Rajenthra Bhalaji said the proposed offer “came to the government through a private agency here”.
“But Chief Minister, Edappadi K. Palaniswami has rejected it as the people of Tamil Nadu would not like milk to be supplied to the Lankan military that has killed lakhs of Tamils,” he continued.
Sri Lanka has been struggling with milk production with a reported US$ 312 million spent annually on dairy imports. Earlier this year Colombo announced that it would import 2,500 cows from Australia to help with dairy production. Initially the cows had been marked for distribution amongst local farmer, but the government has shifted policy and said the cattle would be used to establish a breeding program.
Bhalaji said the Tamil Nadu government was open supplying milk to parlours in areas like Jaffna and Batticaloa, part of the Eelam Tamil homeland, as well as in other areas. “We are ready to supply Aavin milk to the common people of Sri Lanka, including Sinhalese,” he concluded.
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