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Fishing crisis: Talks on August 29, but conflicting claims on release of boats
As poaching in the Palk Strait by Tamil Nadu fishermen continued unabated, Fisheries Minister Rajitha Senaratne said yesterday official talks on this issue between the two countries would begin in New Delhi on August 29. A three-member delegation headed by Fisheries Director General Nimal Hettiarachchi will represent Sri Lanka. The other members are Fisheries Ministry advisor S. Subasinghe, Additional Solicitor General Suhada Gamlath.
Minister Senaratne said Sri Lanka would take up the position that it was not possible to release the 62 Indian boats in custody as they were nabbed in Sri Lanka’s territorial waters. “They must stop trespassing into our waters,” he said. In Sri Lanka’s north, fishing is the livelihood of thousands of families. They are the worst affected by the Tamil Nadu poaching. Fisheries Director Hettiarachchi said the invitation for the talks had come from the Indian government.
He said Sri Lanka’s aim was to find a just and fair solution to this crisis. Tamil Nadu Fishermen’s Association president N.J. Bose told the Sunday Times yesterday that he had been informed by India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj that following the Independence Day release of Indian fishermen this week, the boats also would be released.
“The minister said she is taking necessary steps and hoped the boats would be released in three to four days,” Mr. Bose said. The Sri Lankan government on Wednesday released 94 Indian fishermen who had been arrested for poaching in Sri Lanka’s waters. The released Indian fishermen were handed over to the Indian Coastguard by the Lankan Navy last evening. Meanwhile, 16 Sri Lankan fishermen, who are in custody in Karnataka, will return home next week, but 23 Lankan fishermen and four boats are still being held in Andhra Pradesh.