Minister of State in the PMO V Narayanasamy on Tuesday blamed the Tamil Nadu government for its inaction to facilitate a dialogue between Indian fishermen and their counterparts in Sri Lanka.

Though the External Affairs Ministry Secretary had written twice to the Tamil Nadu government recently for a dialogue to ensure protection of fishermen, the state government had not shown any response to the Centre’s initiative, he said.

Only through an agreement between the leaders of Tamil Nadu fishermen outfits and their counterparts in the Island Republic could the present hardships being faced by fishermen of Puducherry and Tamil Nadu be brought to an end, he told reporters here.

Emphasising the need to demarcate the zones within which the fishermen of the State and Sri Lanka could carry on their avocation, the Secretary to the External Affairs Ministry had written twice to the Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary for the dialogue. “No response has, however, been shown by the Tamil Nadu government so far to these communications,” he said.

Replying to a question on the UPA’s Prime Ministerial candidate, Narayanasamy said as far as Congress was concerned party leader Sonia Gandhi was the ultimate authority to decide on the matter, though there were several persons eligible to become the Prime Minister.

“Let us not indulge in any discussion now,” he said.

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