"I am not helpless. I am a very influential External Affairs Minister," Sushma Swaraj replied to a taunt by an opposition leader in the Rajya Sabha on Monday while she was speaking on the issue of plight of fishermen and how the issue has been taken up with Sri Lanka. Rajeev Shukla (Cong) had said the remarks by Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe about "right to shoot intruder" in the context of Indian fishermen is a slap on the face of India and showed helplessness of External Affairs Minister "who is not even allowed to share dais with (US President Barack) Obama" during his recent visit here.

In a reply to Shukla's remarks, Swaraj said, “During President Obama's visit I sat with my PM where I should have been seated. You see the pictures." "I share your outrage and pain. I have strongly placed before Sri Lankan PM Wickramasinghe in his territory that such remarks were improper and objectionable, which was not contradicted by them. We are keeping a close eye on the issue," she said. She added, "I am proud to state that after the present government took over, not a single Indian fisherman was killed there. There was a date when we achieved zero-zero status which meant there was no fisherman arrested or captive in either India or Sri Lanka."

By Premji