Tamil Nadu’s Fisheries Minister has said he will travel to Delhi next week to press the Indian central government on the arrest of state fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy.
Minister Srinath said he would meet the Union Minister of External Affairs, S. Jaishankar, and the Union Minister of Fisheries, Rajiv Ranjan Singh, to discuss measures to prevent further arrests. He was speaking to reporters at Thoothukudi Airport on Thursday.
“Next week, we will go to Delhi and meet the Union Minister of External Affairs and the Union Minister of Fisheries to discuss measures to prevent the arrest of Tamil Nadu fishermen. A positive outcome will be reached soon,” he said.
The minister said talks on the fishermen’s issue were ongoing and that he had discussed the matter with the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.
The arrests
The remarks follow the Sri Lankan Navy’s detention on Thursday of nine fishermen from Rameswaram along with their trawler off Talaimannar, on suspicion of fishing illegally in Sri Lankan waters.
Arrests of Indian trawler crews in the Palk Strait are a long-running friction point between Colombo and Delhi, and one that Tamil Nadu politicians of all parties routinely take up with the central government. The issue featured in Delhi political exchanges earlier this year.
Other commitments
Srinath said several schemes intended to benefit fishermen had been evaluated and would be included in the Fisheries Department’s demand for grants, following discussions with the Chief Minister and the Finance Minister.
A request from Thoothukudi mechanised boat fishermen for permission to fish in deep-sea waters had also been included in the demand for grants, he said, with an announcement to be made during the session.
On water shortages in Thoothukudi, the minister said the drinking water problem would be fully resolved within a couple of days, with repairs under way on damaged pipelines and regular supply already restored in several areas.
