Sri Lankan Navy's arrest of Indian fishers in 2024 is the highest in seven years

MK Stalin, the chief minister of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, has written to Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar, highlighting the increasing frequency of arrests of Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy.

In a letter, Stalin highlighted that the number of Indian fishermen arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy this year is the highest in seven years.

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The Sri Lankan Navy maintains that Indian fishing boats are poaching in Sri Lankan waters and that their Naval vessels conduct regular patrols and operations in their waters to curb illegal fishing practices of foreign fishing boats, taking into account the impact of those practices on the livelihood of local fishermen.

Thus far this year, the Sri Lankan Navy says they have held 66 Indian fishing boats and 497 Indian fishermen in the island nation's waters.

The fishermen issue remains a sore point in India-Sri Lanka ties, with fishers from each side crossing over into the other's waters.

This is a longstanding and complex problem that involves fishing rights and territory in the narrow Palk Strait, the water body that separates the Southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the Northern part of the island nation Sri Lanka.

In the letter, MK Stalin touched upon the two incidents from Sunday, November 9, and Tuesday, November 12, where a total of 35 fishermen from Tamil Nadu, and their four boats were taken into custody by Sri Lankan authorities. "These arrests not only disrupt their livelihoods but also cause immense distress to their families," he stated.

Meetings between Indian and Sri Lankan authorities

In recent days, maritime security agencies from India and Sri Lanka have been meeting to discuss various issues, including efforts to combat transnational maritime crime and to promote regional cooperation.

The 7th Annual High-Level Meeting (HLM) between the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and the Sri Lanka Coast Guard (SLCG) was conducted on November 11, in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

The meeting underscored the commitment of both the Coast Guards to jointly address a plethora of maritime challenges including drug trafficking, marine pollution, the safety of mariners, adoption of best practices, capacity-building programmes, and other collaborative arrangements.

The meeting between the Coast Guard leadership comes barely a week after the 34th India and Sri Lanka Navy & Coast Guard International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) meeting, chaired by senior officials of the Indian and Sri Lankan Navies.

This meeting was held onboard the Sri Lankan Naval Ship SLNS Vijayabahu in Palk Bay on November 6, 2024.

Representatives from both sides held discussions with a special focus on maritime security in Palk Bay & Gulf of Mannar, the safety of fishermen, and ways to enhance fishermen’s response to real-time communications.

Watch |Sri Lanka President Promises Return Of Tamil Land

Campaigning ahead of the country's parliamentary polls, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake accused Indian fishermen of destroying the marine resources belonging to the Tamil-populated northern region of the island nation.

During his speech at Jaffna city, he also stated that his government will ensure that such exploitation of marine resources does not happen. He assured that he would protect the rights of Sri Lankan fishermen, bring more jobs to the region, and support agriculture and fisheries. He also touched upon the issue of drug abuse and vowed to crack down.

Sri Lanka's Parliamentary polls are scheduled for this Thursday, 14th November. The President's political event conducted on Sunday in Jaffna city was his first in the region. Interestingly, Dissanayake's JVP party has not been one to support Tamil rights in the bygone decades.

However, expectations are high from the young president, who has barely spent eight weeks in office.