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Christmas Eve mid-sea swap of fishermen
The Government was yesterday considering a Christmas Eve mid-sea swap of local and Indian fishermen, a Senior fisheries Ministry official said.Fisheries Ministry Secretary Damitha de Zoysa said this was in response to an Indian Government decision to release 30 Sri Lankan fishermen along with 19 vessels now held in Tamil Nadu.
“India is insisting that we should release 66 Indian fishermen along with 81 boats. This is more than double the number of Lankans being held in Tamil Nadu. India is insisting that the release of the fishermen from both sides be carried out simultaneously on the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) on the Palk Bay,” Dr. Zoysa said.
The matter was being studied by the Attorney General and a final decision would have to be taken by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, she added. The secretary said that apart from fishermen being held in Tamil Nadu there are also Sri Lankan fishermen being held in jails in other Indian states.
Attorney General Yuwanjana Wijethilake said a meeting would be held tomorrow to decide on the matter.
The release of the fishermen from both countries was discussed at length on the sidelines of the recent South Asian summit in Nepal.
Meanwhile, in a letter to India’s Prime Minsiter Narendra Modi, Tamil Nadu’s new Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam yesterday said if the Sri Lankan Government did not release the boats, the Tamil Nadu government too would not release any boats.
In another development, the navy reported a decline in the number of Indian poachers spotted in the country’s territorial waters.
Navy Spokesperson Kosala Warnakulasooriya said the Navy had, however, doubled its presence in the region to discourage poachers.