Sri Lankan Navy apprehends 16 Indian fishermen
The Sri Lankan Navy arrested 16 fishermen from Rameswaram and Mandapam in Tamil Nadu and their two boats on Thursday, according to Q branch police.
Earlier on February 12, the Sri Lankan Navy has apprehended 12 Rameswaram-based fishermen and two fishing boats after they had gone fishing across the border in the Palk Bay.
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In a written reply in Lok Sabha on February 4, 2022, Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs V Muraleedharan, said Indian fishermen are arrested from time to time by the Sri Lankan authorities for allegedly crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) and fishing in Sri Lankan waters.
"As per the available information, 74 and 159 Indian fishermen were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy in 2020 and 2021 respectively," he added.
Muraleedharan further informed that following the 2+2 initiative in November 2016, when the Foreign and Fisheries Ministers of the two countries met in New Delhi, a bilateral Joint Working Group (JWG) mechanism and meeting of the Ministers for Fisheries of the two countries was institutionalized to address the fishermen issues with Sri Lanka.
Earlier, several alleged incidents came to notice when Sri Lankan Navy personnel even fired at Indian fishermen in the Palk Strait and seized their boats.
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Sri Lankan issue with Indian fishermen emerged back in 1974, only after the maritime agreement was signed by both countries. Since then, arrests and attacks continued to increase on Indian fishermen.
-PTC News
