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India requests release of fishermen and boats
The Fisheries Ministry has sought the Attorney General’s advice over a fresh request from India to release its fishermen and boats which have been detained after they were found to be fishing in Sri Lankan waters, officials said. Early this week Indian High Commissioner Y. K. Sinha sent a letter through the External Affairs Ministry requesting that the boats and fishermen be released.
The move came as a group of fishermen based in Nagapatnam, South India launched an indefinite strike demanding the release of boats and fishermen in Lankan custody. This week 55 more Indian fishermen poaching off Thalaimannar and Delft Island were arrested in two separate incidents. Seven of their boats were also seized. An official from the Fisheries Ministry said that at present 76 Indian fishermen and 73 boats were in custody.
The High Commissioner in his letter expressed hope of resolving the long standing dispute through bilateral talks.Meanwhile, Sri Lanka has made a fresh request to the Maldivian government to grant access to Maldivian waters as the ‘Right of Passage’ for Lankan fishermen going the international waters.The matter was taken up at the Sixth Maldives-Sri Lanka Joint Commission attended by the Maldives Foreign Affairs Minister on Wednesday in Colombo.
However, on the same day when the Joint Commission meeting was being held in Colombo, the Maldives Fisheries Ministry said it would not grant permission to Lankan fishermen to cross the Maldivian territorial waters. ”The Maldivian government assures its citizens that we will not agree to anything that might have an adverse effect on the Maldivian fishermen or the fisheries industry, the independence and sovereignty of the country, or the country’s economy,” a statement by the Ministry said.
Maldivian High Commissioner Zahiya Zareer told the Sunday Times the issue had been under discussion, but declined to comment on the Maldives’ position.
A number of Sri Lankan fishermen using the Indian territorial waters to enter the international waters have been arrested by the Indian coast guards.