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Poaching talks postponed amid confusion
View(s):The third round of talks between fishermen of Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu (TN) has been postponed to a date after March 15 amid confusion as to who wanted the postponement, a senior fisheries ministry official said. The talks were initially due be held on March 12, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day visit to Sri Lanka.
“We were informed by the Indian High Commission that it would be difficult to hold the talks during the week since they are busy with the arrangements for the Indian Prime Minister’s visit,” the Fisheries Ministry’s Deputy Director General Lal De Silva said. The postponement came after Indian High Commissioner Y.K. Sinha met Fisheries Minister Joseph Michael Perera and requested that the talks be resumed early this week.
Minister Perera said the Indian High Commissioner wanted the talks to be held ahead of Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Colombo. However Mr. de Silva said that the Tamil Nadu government had proposed the talks be held after March 15. Earlier, the TN state government had proposed the talks on March 5, but teh Sri Lankan government had sought a postponement due to the implementation of 100-day programme.