Effects of the Emergency (June 25, 1975 — March 21, 1977) can still be felt in Tamil Nadu and in India-Sri Lanka relations as the Government of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi did not protect the interests of Indian fishermen to fish in the Palk Strait while concluding a pact with Sri Lanka during that period, said External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Friday (June 27, 2025), apparently alluding to the Katchatheevu pact of 1976. Speaking about the Emergency at an event here, Mr. Jaishankar recollected his personal experience from that era and said the Emergency proved that democracy and freedom were in the “blood” of the Indian people.
“During the Emergency, big decisions used to be taken without discussion. These days, you know when our fishermen venture near Sri Lanka, there they are arrested. You know the reason? The reason is that during the Emergency, an agreement was signed with Sri Lanka in which the rights of our fishermen that they had earlier to fish in the waters near Sri Lanka, was something that we gave up. If the Emergency was not there and if we had a genuine Parliament at that time, I don’t think such an agreement would have been approved by the Parliament,” said the External Affairs Minister, speaking in Hindi. Indian fishermen frequently face arrests by the Sri Lankan Navy for trespassing into Sri Lankan waters — they are often arrested near the northern coast of the island, well past Katchatheevu — and fishing using the bottom trawling method, that is banned in Sri Lanka.
