Colombo, Nov 1 (NIA) – The Sri Lanka Navy assisted the Sri Lanka Coast Guard to arrest four Indian fishermen poaching in the island’s norther waters on Tuesday, the navy media unit said.
One Indian fishing trawler was also taken into custody.
One Indian fishing trawler was also taken into custody.
The fishermen were arrested South West of Delft Island.
Having brought the arrested fishermen and trawler to SLNS Elara in Karainagar, they will be handed over to the Assistant Director of Fisheries, Jaffna, in north for onward action, the navy said.
Sri Lanka and India, have been trying to resolve the long standing fishermen issue with fishermen from both sides having to face arrest and boats being detained when they stray into each other’s waters illegally.
Both countries have held several rounds of talks in an attempt to resolve the matter but have failed to reach a final solution.
Indian media reports on Tuesday said that bilateral talks between Indian and Sri Lankan fishermen will be held in New Delhi on Wednesday to find a solution to the issues between them.
Informal talks between the fishermen held in 2004 and 2010 as well as the talks held in Chennai, in southern India, in 2014 with the support of the Indian and Sri Lankan governments failed to solve the issues.
Indian fishermen, quoted in media reports said that they were hopeful that the fishermen row would be sorted out following Wednesday’s discussions and Indian fishermen would be able to fish in the Palk Strait.
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