Nineteen Indian fishermen detained by the Sri Lanka Navy had been on Tuesday repatriated to India, the Indian Excessive Fee mentioned, nearly per week after an analogous variety of fishermen had been despatched again to their dwelling nation.
“19 Indian fishermen have been repatriated from Sri Lanka and are presently on their strategy to Chennai, the Indian Excessive Fee right here mentioned in a put up on X.
The Navy has thus far held 23 Indian trawlers and 178 Indian fishermen for allegedly fishing within the island nation’s waters to date in 2024, and handed them over to authorities for authorized motion, the Sri Lankan Navy late final month confirmed in a press release.
The fishermen challenge is a contentious one within the ties between India and Sri Lanka, with Lankan Navy personnel even firing at Indian fishermen within the Palk Strait and seizing their boats in a number of alleged incidents of illegally coming into Sri Lankan territorial waters.
On April 3, 19 Indian fishermen detained by the Sri Lanka Navy had been repatriated to India after being launched by authorities right here.
The discharge of the 38 Indian fishermen comes amidst a row over the Katchatheevu island challenge after the ruling BJP blamed the Congress Get together for ceding the tiny island to Sri Lanka in 1974.
The Palk Strait, a slender strip of water separating Tamil Nadu from Sri Lanka, is a wealthy fishing floor for fishermen from each nations.
Fishermen from each nations are arrested often for inadvertently trespassing into one another’s waters.
In 2023, the island nation’s Navy arrested 240 Indian fishermen together with 35 trawlers for allegedly poaching in Sri Lankan waters.
(Apart from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)
Ready for response to load…