“We have been friends with the fishermen from the island nation for long years and on occasions we even have exchanged food and other essentials prepared from our homes with the Sri Lankan fishermen.... In the recent months, the courts in Sri Lanka have been imposing hefty fines. The trawlers, seized by the Sri Lankan Navy, too are not returned. Diplomatic relations between the two countries have been described as friendly and whenever there was a crisis in Sri Lanka, the first nation to step in with assistance was India. The new government in Tamil Nadu and Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay had written to the Prime Minister and External Affairs Minister about the arrests.