Ganesanathan Geathiswaran, Sri Lanka’s Deputy High Commissioner in Chennai, has publicly denied that a late-March meeting he attended in Puducherry was a political event, telling reporters: “I’m not here to do politics. I have nothing to do with politics.”
The clarification follows allegations that the gathering breached diplomatic protocol under the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which bars foreign envoys from interfering in the internal affairs of a host state.
What happened in Puducherry
Geathiswaran said the meeting was hosted by Latchiya Jananayaga Katchi (LJK) president Jose Charles Martin, a personal acquaintance who invited him to hear the grievances of fishermen from Vaithikuppam in Puducherry and Karaikal. He described the gathering as held in an open seaside area with no stage, no party branding and no campaign activity, and said it was his fourth such meeting with fishermen across Tamil Nadu.
Indian objections
Indian National Congress Working Committee member Pawan Khera raised the issue on social media, arguing the meeting violated diplomatic norms and questioning whether the Election Commission of India would issue formal notices. No investigation has been announced.
The matter is sensitive because it touches both Sri Lanka-India fishing disputes — a recurring source of friction between Tamil Nadu fishermen and Sri Lanka’s northern fleet — and the broader Tamil political relationship between the two countries.
Bilateral context
The episode follows earlier reporting in which a Sri Lankan diplomat was accused of interfering in the Puducherry election process. Colombo and New Delhi are simultaneously deepening cooperation as Sri Lanka leans on India for emergency fuel supplies during the Strait of Hormuz crisis. Neither the Sri Lankan Ministry of Foreign Affairs nor the Indian government has issued an official statement on the Puducherry meeting.
