In the run-up to the January 20 this year meeting here between fishermen from Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka, 275 Tamil fishermen lodged in various prisons in Sri Lanka would be released from January 13.Tamil Nadu will in turn release 179 Sri Lankan fishermen as requested by the Indian government to facilitate the talks.
India-Sri Lanka Relations have traditionally been cordial save a few hiccups from time to time. With the near annihilation of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) by the Sri Lankan forces with tacit help from India, the relations have been improved.
But there is an issue which needs frequent strong diplomatic remedial measures, that is the “Constant Trespassing of Indian Fishermen in Sri Lankan Waters and Their Continuing Arrest and Detention”.
Learning from the past in 2008, a Joint Working Group (JWG) has been established in order to identify the causes of frequent firing on Indian Fishermen who mistakenly crossed over into Sri Lankan waters.
In the JWG meeting, It was agreed by both sides that high priority must be accorded to the issue of fishermen and their livelihoods, which depend upon fishing, and often tempt them to drift into the island-nation territorial waters in the lure of a richer catch.
It was clearly mentioned in the JWG statement that, “To ensure security and safety of fishermen, both sides agreed that use of force cannot be justified under any circumstances”
Further, the bordering countries had “Agreed to put in place practical arrangements to deal with bona fide Indian and Sri Lankan fishermen crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL)… keeping in mind the humanitarian and livelihood dimensions of the fishermen issue”.
It may be uncharitable to link the earlier Sri Lankan position to their perceived dependence on India at the height of ‘Eelam War IV – just as it is improper to link the recent spate of arrests to perception of hostility in Tamil Nadu, or to India’s vote against Sri Lanka at the UNHRC in Geneva, twice in a row. Sri Lanka has repeatedly indicated that their putting pressure on the Tamil Nadu fishers is a result of their own Tamil fishermen in the North and the East of the country taking to their traditional trade in a big way, in the months and years after the war. Intermittently, there have been suggestions from sections in the Colombo dispensation that spoke about issues of sovereignty, territorial integrity and State security.
Earlier a draft MoU on Development and Cooperation in the field of fisheries was discussed and the two sides agreed that such discussions will continue.
Also regulatory measures for managing fishery resources in the waters of the two countries were discussed. Both sides recognised the need for a road map to ensure security sustainability, livelihood issue, safety and security of fishermen of both countries.
The preparation and implementation of such a road map will go long distance in sorting out the problem relating to fishermen.
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