Meets Prime Minister:

TN Parliamentarians satisfied

Lakshmi de Silva

The group of Tamil Nadu parliamentarians visiting the country met Premier Ratnasiri Wickramanayake at the Prime Minister's Office, Colombo yesterday and expressed their satisfaction with the prevailing situation in the country. They said they were able to visit the IDP camps in the North and were satisfied with their welfare and some problems faced by the IDPs were also discussed with the Sri Lankan authorities and these could be resolved.

They said they visited the upcountry and met the Tamil people there.

The leader of the group of parliamentarian T.K. Baalu said there were constant problems of Sri Lankan and Indian fishermen straying off the territorial waters of each country and the coast guard and navy authorities often arrested such fishermen.

Therefore he would suggest to the Government of India to propose a joint committee comprising representatives of the Governments of Sri Lanka, India and Tamil Nadu State to resolve the problems faced by fishermen. The Tamil Nadu parliamentarians also suggested the organization of trade fairs in both South India and Sri Lanka so that there could be trade exchanges for the mutual benefit of the two countries.

Prime Minister Wickramanayake said there were several misconceptions about both countries and the visit of the Tamil Nadu parliamentarians would clear misunderstanding and help create a dialogue.

The group of parliamentarians included the daughter of DMK leader M.Karuananidhi Kanimozhi, A.K.S.Vijayan, T.K.S.Elagovan, Helen Davidson and Congress parliamentarians S. Nachiappa, N.V.S. Chithan, J.M. Hara Rashid and K.S. Azhagiri.