India has assured the Sri Lanka that they will take prompt action to resolve the issue of Indian fishermen encroaching on Sri Lanka's territorial waters which has had a severe impact on local fishermen and their livelihoods.
Indian High Commissioner Gopal Baglay has given this pledge when he called on Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena and the Minister of Fisheries Douglas Devananda at the Ministry of Foreign Relations yesterday (07), Indian High Commission in Colombo announced.
He stressed the need to continue to deal with the matters related to fishermen and their boats in a humanitarian manner, in accordance with the existing understandings.
The High Commissioner highlighted concrete steps taken by both the central government of India and the state government of Tamil Nadu in addressing all dimensions of the issue and specifically underlined India’s ongoing measures to support and encourage Indian fishermen to practise deep sea fishing.
He expressed the hope that the next meeting of the bilateral mechanism on matters pertaining to fishermen could soon be arranged online.
With regard to a proposal for joint management of the Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar by Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda, the High Commissioner shared that the forward looking elements in the proposal needed to be examined in greater detail.
He thanked the Sri Lankan government for organising the 4th NSA level Trilateral Meeting on Maritime Security held in Colombo on November 28.
The two countries have agreed at the meeting that enhanced cooperation among various countries, particularly Sri Lanka and India, is crucial for addressing challenges like terrorism, radicalisation, organised crime, drug trafficking, etc. in our region.
The High Commissioner expressed the confidence that India-Sri Lanka relations will reach new heights in the coming year.
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