* Sri Lankan President calls for an immediate meeting to address Indian fishermen issue
Oct 20, Colombo: Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa has called for an immediate meeting of all relevant stakeholders to come up with an agreeable solution to the distressing issue of poaching in Sri Lankan waters by Indian fishermen.
The President on Thursday has directed Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Minister Rajitha Senaratne to chair a meeting in Jaffna as a first step to address the issue, the Sunday Times reported.
The President has given the order following the swearing-in of Northern Provincial Council Chief Minister C.V. Vigneswaran as a subject minister.
According to the Sunday Times report, the President has told the Chief Minister that he also should participate in the meeting to be chaired by the Fisheries Minister and also invite Minister Douglas Devananda.
Fisheries Ministry officials have said that representatives of fishermen's organizations and Grama Niladharis in the northern coastal fishing areas will be invited to the meeting.
Indian fishermen from Tamil Nadu despite numerous arrests by the Sri Lankan Navy continually violate the international maritime boundary line and poach in Sri Lankan waters depriving the Sri Lankan fishermen of their livelihood resources.
The issue has become a serious problem for both governments and soured the relations between the two countries.
Northern Province fishermen have urged the government to take immediate action to stop the poaching Indian fishermen.
The Sri Lankan government has recently adopted a new policy of detaining Indian fishermen arrested for poaching in Sri Lankan waters for a long time and confiscating their boats to deter the Indian fishermen from trespassing into Sri Lankan waters. However, the measure has not deterred the Indian fishermen as evident by the increasing number of arrests by the Navy.
It has been reported that stealing Sri Lankan fishermen's catch by large numbers of Indian fishermen has earned billions for the Tamil Nadu state government in fish exports.
Sri Lanka Navy has said that over the last few weeks it has observed an increase in the number of trawlers that came into Sri Lankan waters.
Minister Senaratne says the issue is a big problem and India is yet to get back on its promise of facilitating talks between fishermen of both countries.
He pointed out that the Joint Working Group, which was set up by both governments to find long-term solutions to the issue of poaching, is expected to meet once in six months, with representatives from both countries.
However, Sri Lanka held the last meeting in January 2012 and it's India's turn now to hold the meeting but it was delaying the process, the Minister has said.
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