In their 50 minute luncheon meeting, Jaya presented a detailed memorandum to Modi. She called to retrieve the Katchatheevu islet from Sri Lanka and also emphasised on the country's role to ensure welfare of the Lankan Tamils. She also sought central intervention on matters like the Cauvery and Mullaperiyar disputes with Karnataka and Kerala respectively.
On Karnataka's proposed dam across river Cauvery at Mekedatu, which Jayalalithaa said was “in violation“ of the final award, she urged Modi to advise the state not to proceed with the project without Tamil Nadu's concurrence. She also raised the Mullaperiyar issue in which her government had succeeded in a court case for raising the storage level to 142 feet. Jayalalithaa said there could be a “security threat” to the dam structure and its appurtenant structures “from unruly mobs against whom the Kerala police, instead of taking action, are acting as mute spectators.”
The first meeting between both the two leaders since BJP's memorable win in the Lok Sabha elections last year, the visit stressed on the ruling party's attempts to woo the AIADMK for important pending legislations before parliament. The TN chief minister took up a long list of issues with the Prime Minister, ranging from interstate river disputes to the GST rollout, along with the Sri Lankan Tamils issue.
“The process of securing the right to self-determination, through democratic decentralisation by the 13th amendment ... should be the springboard for Sri Lankan Tamils to eventually realise the aspiration of Tamil Eelam,” the memorandum noted. “I strongly urge the (Indian) government to take all possible steps to ensure that the process of democratic decentralisation, which is integral to the survival of the Tamils in Sri Lanka, is expedited,” she said.
