On Friday, Sri Lanka extended an "unqualified apology" to the PM over the article that was entitled: "How meaningful are Jayalalithaa's love letters to Narendra Modi?".
Foreign Minister
Sushma Swaraj said a top envoy from Colombo will be summoned as Delhi formally lodges a protest over an article and uncomplimentary illustration of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister
J Jayalalithaa and Prime Minister Narendra Modi published on a Sri Lankan government website.
"India strongly condemns this. We will definitely call their high commissioner and discuss this issue," Ms Swaraj told Parliament today, where the controversy impelled heated debate.
In another consequence of the row, a team of under-15 cricketers who had arrived in Chennai last night to play in a tournament that starts today were made to return this morning, with local police citing security concerns. (
Read: Amid Tension With Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu Sends Back Young Cricketers)
On Friday, Sri Lanka extended an "unqualified apology" to the PM over the article that was entitled: "How meaningful are Jayalalithaa's love letters to Narendra Modi?". (
Also read: Lanka Apologises For Jayalalithaa-Modi Article Amid Outrage in Tamil Nadu)
The article and illustration implied that the PM was being heavily controlled by Ms Jayalalithaa, who has been demanding his intervention to stop Sri Lanka from arresting fishermen from her state on charges that they were caught poaching in Sri Lanka's waters.
Like other politicians from Tamil Nadu, Ms Jayalaltihaa also wants Delhi to demand an international probe into allegations that Sri Lankan troops, largely Sinhalese, killed at least 40,000 ethnic Tamil civilians in the final stages of the civil war in 2009. (
Also read: Poster in Tamil Nadu Shows Rajapaksa Apologising to Jayalalithaa)
The 16 Sri Lankan teens who were sent back from Chennai today were to participate in a tournament organised by J Haroon, a Congress politician. "This is unfortunate. There was no protest or any threat from any group. Perhaps the state government anticipated trouble," he told NDTV.
In 2012, the Tamil Nadu government had sent back a soccer team from Colombo which was in Chennai to play with local clubs. The state also did not allow Sri Lankan players who belong to IPL cricket teams to play in Chennai, citing potential law and order problems.