Aiming to find a “permanent solution” to India-Sri Lanka fishermen issues, the Ministry of External Affairs on Friday (MEA) held an “internal stakeholders meeting”.
The meeting was chaired by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and attended by the Minister of State for Transport, Highways and Shipping, Radha Krishnan, and a host of representatives from Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Odisha.
The meeting formed part of the preparatory work before the arrival of Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development of Sri Lanka, who is expected to visit India in August.
India and Sri Lanka Joint Commission Meeting of February 5, 2016 had agreed to find a permanent solution to the issues during the ministerial visit.
The frequent arrest of Indian fishermen by Sri Lanka and Colombo’s concerns about mechanised fishing by Indian trawlers formed part of discussion during the high-level discussion held during President Maithripala Sirisena’s visit during May 13-14.
“The release of 77 Indian fishermen on July 25-26, 2016 and their repatriation to India on July 27, 2016 set the immediate backdrop to the meeting. The discussions between stakeholders on the Indian side focussed on different aspects requiring attention, including the livelihood concerns of Indian fishermen and introduction of sustainable fishing practices,” said the MEA in a statement issued following the meeting.
The fishermen issues form a major part of disputes between India and Sri Lanka and the Joint Committee/Commission mechanism was devised for dealing with the dispute between the two sides.
However, not much progress had been made, as both sides are yet to reach an agreement on basic issues like sustainable fishing practices and zone of fishing.
“There was agreement among all stakeholders that pragmatic solutions needed to be pursued, so that fishermen on both sides can pursue their livelihood in a safe secure and sustainable manner,” the statement said.
