Sri Lanka Navy has arrested at least 54 Indian Fishermen. Five ships of these fishermen have also been captured. The Sri Lankan Navy has accused Indian fishermen of poaching in the country’s waters. It was informed in an official statement on Thursday. He was arrested by Sri Lanka from the northern and northern east coast of the country on Wednesday.
The Navy said in its statement, the impact of poaching of foreign fishermen in Sri Lankan waters has been considered on the stability of the local fishing community and Sri Lankan fisheries resources. After this, the Navy is doing regular patrolling to stop illegal fishing activities in Sri Lankan waters. The statement said that the Navy caught a large Indian fishing vessel three nautical miles off the Kovilan coast of Jaffna. There were 14 people on it.
Fishermen enter Sri Lankan waters: Sri Lankan Navy
The Sri Lankan Navy reported that two other Indian vessels were seized seven nautical miles from Mannar and five nautical miles from Eranativu Island. Altogether 20 people were aboard both ships. The navy captured two other Indian ships, 7.5 nautical miles from Mullaitivu, the statement said. In total there were 20 fishermen on both these ships. It said that the ships crossed the International Boundary Line (IMBL) and entered the watershed up to 62 nautical miles away.
Issues of fishermen major hurdle in bilateral relations between India and Sri Lanka
The statement said that the Navy had earlier told Indian officials that Indian fishermen’s ships were entering their waters. Fishermen from both countries are often arrested for inadvertently entering each other’s waters. The fishermen issue has become a major bottleneck in bilateral relations between India and Sri Lanka. In January, India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar visited Sri Lanka. During this time he met Sri Lanka’s Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda and raised the issue of fishermen.
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