Colombo:
Sri Lanka on Sunday released at least 11 Indian fishermen as a special gesture, a day later Prime Minister Narendra Modi picked up the issue of fishermen bereaved with “human approach”.
During the conversation between PM Modi and Sri Lankan President Anuraa Kumara Dissanayake on Saturday, the issue of fishermen came out prominently.
“We also discussed issues related to the livelihood of fishermen,” Modi said in his media statement after meeting Dsnayake. We agreed that we should move forward with a human view in this matter. “
“We also insisted on the immediate release of fishermen and their boats,” he said.
At least 11 Indian fishermen were issued as a special gesture, people familiar with the matter said.
The issue of fishermen is a controversial in relations between the two sides.
There have been several alleged incidents in the past of Sri Lankan Navy personnel, which use force against Indian fishermen in pock straight, which is a narrow strip of water separating Tamil Nadu from Sri Lanka.
In a media briefing on Saturday, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said that “considerable expansion” was discussed between the two sides on the issue of fishermen.
“As the Prime Minister himself said during his comment, the need to adopt a human and creative approach to cooperation on these issues was emphasized as these are eventually issues that affect the livelihood of fishermen on both sides of the pock bay,” he said.
“The Prime Minister insisted that at the end of the day, this is a daily issue for fishermen and some of the recent works can be reconsidered,” Misri said.
The Foreign Secretary said that both sides also emphasized the need to intensify institutional discussions on the issue.
He said, “The two sides are in touch with each other over the possibility of calling the next round of fishermen’s association talks between Sri Lanka and India,” he said.
(This story is not edited by NDTV employees and auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
