News
Lanka rejects India’s demarche for release of fishermen
Sri Lanka has rejected an Indian demarche delivered earlier this week for the immediate release of 114 Tamil Nadu fishermen now in custody for poaching in the country’s territorial waters. The Sri Lankan Government has hit back at India asking that its fishermen stop poaching in Sri Lankan territorial waters, and said that the Indian Government was not doing enough to stop this poaching that was harming the livelihoods of Sri Lankan fishermen in the north.
“There is a legal procedure to adhere to. The law should take its course,” External Affairs Ministry Secretary Karunatilleke Amunugama told the Sunday Times. The Sri Lankan response comes just days after the Indian External Affairs Ministry delivered the demarche to Sri Lanka, both in Colombo and New Delhi. The demarche (a diplomatic protest) was handed over to Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner Prasad Kariyawasam in New Delhi after he was summoned to the South Block, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs. Simultaneously, India’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Y.K. Sinha delivered the protest to the External Affairs Ministry in Colombo.
Indian External Affairs Joint Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla reflected New Delhi’s frustration in the delay in releasing the Indian fishermen despite several high level interventions.
He said the delay in releasing the fishermen not only deprived them of their livelihoods but also caused panic to their families
Mr. Amunugama said the government would not change its position but would work with the Attorney General’s Department to speed up the release of the Indian fishermen being held in jails in Mannar, Jaffna and Trincomalee. He said Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner Kariyawasam had been instructed to convey Sri Lanka’s position to the Indian authorities and urged them to advise their fishermen against violating the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) because they would face arrest.
“India has been repeatedly told that its fishermen, mainly from Tamil Nadu, were depriving Sri Lankan fishermen who are also ethnic Tamils of their livelihood and they felt that the government is doing too little to bring an end to the poaching that takes on a daily basis.
“The Indian fishermen are being treated in a humane manner in the local jails. Indian High Commission officials are also being permitted to visit them and provide them with whatever assistance necessary,” Mr. Amunugama said.
Some 114 Indian fishermen were arrested in separate incidents by the Navy after they were caught poaching in Sri Lanka’s waters.
In a related development yesterday some 3,000 Indian fishermen supported by their wives held a massive mid-sea protest off Nagai in Indian waters, demanding an immediate end to the festering crisis and the release of the Indian fishermen.
Follow @timesonlinelk
comments powered by Disqus