Hold Indian, Lankan fishermen talks this month: Karunanidhi

DMK president M. Karunanidhi Monday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to take up the issue of Indian fishermen's arrests with the Sri Lankan government and sought talks between fishermen of the two countries within a month.

In a letter to the prime minister Monday, a copy of which was released to the media here, Karunanidhi opposed Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa's suggestion to hold the dialogue between the fishermen in December.

"This may be a long period of wait. The dialogue may be useful only if it is held within a month to prevent further instances of arrest," he wrote.

Karunanidhi said that unless the Indian government took a serious view of the attacks on Indian fishermen by Lanka and "launches firm and fit action", the conditions would worsen and deteriorate.

On Sep 20, Jayalalithaa suggested to Manmohan Singh to hold bilateral talks between fishermen in Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu in Chennai in December, subject to certain conditions.