Members of India's Lok Sabha expressed outrage over comments by Sri Lanka's prime minister, Ranil Wickremasinghe, endorsing the Sri Lankan navy's shooting of Tamil Nadu fishermen.
The opposition member, Rajiv Shukla, accused India's external affairs minister, Sushma Swaraj who held discussions with Mr Wickremasinghe days before his comments, of being "helpless".
Mr Wickremasinghe's comments were a "slap in the face" to India, Mr Shukla added.
Rejecting his remarks, Ms Swaraj was quoted by the Times of India as saying, "I am not helpless. I am a very influential external affairs minister."
During her visit to Sri Lanka last week, Ms Swaraj told Mr Wickremasinghe that the issue regarding fishermen was a humanitarian one that needed to be addressed through dialogue.
On Sunday however, in an interview with Thanthi TV, Mr Wickremasinghe had defended the Sri Lankan navy's shooting of the fishermen, stating: "If someone tries to break into my house, I can shoot. If he gets killed...Law allows me to do that.”
The leader of the Tamil Nadu party, DMK, M Karunanidhi also condemned Mr Wickremasinghe's comments.
“It is not proper for the Lankan Prime Minister to give an interview amounting to a slap on the Indian Prime Minister’s face ahead of his goodwill tour,” Mr Karunanidhi was quoting by The Hindu as saying on Monday, adding that fishermen were unable to identify where the border lay whilst at sea.
Mr Karunanidhi urged the Indian prime minister, who is due to visit Sri Lanka this week, to take up the issue.
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The opposition member, Rajiv Shukla, accused India's external affairs minister, Sushma Swaraj who held discussions with Mr Wickremasinghe days before his comments, of being "helpless".
Mr Wickremasinghe's comments were a "slap in the face" to India, Mr Shukla added.
Rejecting his remarks, Ms Swaraj was quoted by the Times of India as saying, "I am not helpless. I am a very influential external affairs minister."
During her visit to Sri Lanka last week, Ms Swaraj told Mr Wickremasinghe that the issue regarding fishermen was a humanitarian one that needed to be addressed through dialogue.
On Sunday however, in an interview with Thanthi TV, Mr Wickremasinghe had defended the Sri Lankan navy's shooting of the fishermen, stating: "If someone tries to break into my house, I can shoot. If he gets killed...Law allows me to do that.”
The leader of the Tamil Nadu party, DMK, M Karunanidhi also condemned Mr Wickremasinghe's comments.
“It is not proper for the Lankan Prime Minister to give an interview amounting to a slap on the Indian Prime Minister’s face ahead of his goodwill tour,” Mr Karunanidhi was quoting by The Hindu as saying on Monday, adding that fishermen were unable to identify where the border lay whilst at sea.
Mr Karunanidhi urged the Indian prime minister, who is due to visit Sri Lanka this week, to take up the issue.
See more here.