Sri Lankan Navy arrests 22 Thoothukudi fishermen for alleged maritime boundary violation
The 22 fishermen who had set out for fishing on two boats from the Thoothukudi harbour were attested from the Gulf of Mannar, off the coast of Sri Lanka.
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CHENNAI: The Sri Lankan Navy has arrested 22 Thoothukudi fishermen for allegedly crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) and fishing in their territorial waters, as reported by Maalai Malar.
The 22 fishermen who had set out for fishing on two boats from the Thoothukudi harbour were arrested from the Gulf of Mannar, off the coast of Sri Lanka.
Upon finding about the incident, the fisher community have urged both the central and state governments to take immediate action to secure the release of the 22 fishermen.
A delegation of fishermen and senior BJP leaders led by Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai had met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday seeking a permanent resolution to the recurring attacks on the Indian fishermen in the high seas bordering Sri Lanka.
Jaishankar had reaffirmed that the Central Government stood "shoulder to shoulder with our Tamil fishermen," in fulfilling their needs, and also informed that the recent apprehension of Indian fishermen by the Lankan authorities would be taken up at a meeting of the Indo-Sri Lanka Joint Working Group to work out a solution to the problems, Annamalai said.
(With PTI inputs)
