As many as 34 Indian fishermen together with 32 from Tamil Nadu and two from Kerala have been arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy whereas they had been fishing close to Dhanushkodi in Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister MK Stalin stated on Sunday and urged the Centre to take motion for his or her instant launch.
These fishermen had ventured for fishing from the Rameswaram fishing harbour in three mechanised fishing boats and had been arrested on January 25, together with their boats, Stalin informed Exterior Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday.
“They had been apprehended by the Sri Lankan Navy whereas they had been fishing close to Dhanushkodi on 25.01.2025. The frequent detentions of our fishermen has put the coastal communities right into a perpetual sense of tension and apprehension, as their future is made unsure and bleak. It’s excessive time concrete diplomatic steps are taken to stop our fishermen from being arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy,” Stalin stated.
“I due to this fact request you to take crucial pressing motion by diplomatic channels to stop the arrests of our fishermen and to safe the instant launch of all of the arrested fishermen and their fishing boats from the Sri Lankan authorities,” he added.
Arrested fishermen handed over to officers
Each arrests got here off the coast of the northeastern Mannar district within the Navy’s continued common patrols within the Sri Lankan waters to curb unlawful fishing, the Navy stated. The arrested fishermen have been handed over to the related officers for additional motion.
The Indian Excessive Fee right here earlier this week stated some 41 Indian fishermen who had been equally arrested beforehand for poaching in Sri Lankan waters had been repatriated. On January 12, eight Indian fishermen had been arrested and two fishing trawlers had been seized.
The fishermen subject is a contentious one within the ties between India and Sri Lanka, with Lankan Navy personnel even firing at Indian fishermen within the Palk Strait and seizing their boats in a number of alleged incidents of illegally getting into Sri Lankan territorial waters.
The Palk Strait, a slim strip of water separating Tamil Nadu from Sri Lanka, is a wealthy fishing floor for fishermen from each nations.
Fishermen from each nations are arrested regularly for inadvertently trespassing into one another’s waters. In 2024, the island nation’s Navy arrested 529 Indian fishermen for allegedly poaching in Sri Lankan waters.
(With PTI inputs)