Days ahead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Sri Lanka, Minister of Fisheries, Aquatic and Ocean Resources Ramalingam Chandrasekar has said that government-level talks on the fishing dispute between Sri Lanka and India would be held soon in the presence of fishermen. 

He issued the statement on 30 March after a delegation of fishermen from Rameswaram held a meeting with him in Jaffna on 29 March. The delegation, led by fishermen’s leader R. Sahayam appealed to the minister to initiate talks between the fishermen of the two countries. The last ministerial-level talks on the dispute were held in 2016. Calling for a lasting solution to the problem, the delegation pleaded with the minister to secure the release of Indian fishermen and their fishing crafts held in the island nation’s custody.

Modi is slated to visit Sri Lanka on 4 April, and the fishermen’s row is likely to be one of the issues that will figure in his meeting with his Sri Lankan counterpart.

Meanwhile, the delegation from Rameswaram met fishermen lodged in Sri Lankan prisons, and took stock of the fishing crafts confiscated by the authorities on charges of poaching in Sri Lanka’s territorial waters. The fishermen leaders had met their counterparts in Vavuniya on 26 March and discussed the issue. The Indian side sought time to stop trawling but the Sri Lankan fishermen made it clear that trawling won’t be accepted in their waters, though they are ready for an amicable solution. Reiterating this stand, leaders of the Northern Province Fisher People Unity, an umbrella forum of fishermen’s associations of the Northern Province told the media on 30 March that Indian trawlers should stop coming to Sri Lankan waters. Else, their country’s law should find its course to stop it. They are determined that their people should fish in their waters independently and leave the marine resources for future generations, said forum spokesperson Annarasa Annalingam.

(Times of India)