Sri Lanka asks India to stop its fishermen from straying into country's waters

Colombo: The Sri Lankan government has requested India to prevent its fishermen from illegally entering the country's waters for fishing.

Minister of Transport, Highways, Ports and Civil Aviation Bimal Rathnayaka said the Indian action would be deeply appreciated by the people in northern Sri Lanka as fishing is the only livelihood for them.

His remarks came ahead of the likely visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Sri Lanka next month.

“We know that India has been helping Sri Lanka a lot. But this help towards the people of Jaffna would be the greatest," Rathnayaka told Parliament on Wednesday.

“They have no other industry and if you go to Mannar and Thalaimannar you will see”.

Rathnayaka said India was of much assistance to the people of northern Sri Lanka during the country's armed conflict with the LTTE.

“They gave them protection and we are thankful to India for that," Rathnayaka stressed.

The biggest service India, the Tamil Nadu government and, their MPs could do is to help the northern people preserve their livelihoods.

“If they cannot extend this help the question would be if their all other assistance was genuine," Rathnayaka said.

The opposition MP Mano Ganesan said that the Sri Lankan government should include the issue of illegal fishing by Indian fishermen in its agenda for talks with the Indian prime minister.

The Sri Lanka Navy said they arrested over 550 Indian fishermen in 2024 for poaching in Sri Lankan waters. So far this year, over 130 Indian fishermen have been arrested.

Prime Minister Modi is likely to visit Sri Lanka in early April. It would be his fourth visit to the country. Previously, Modi visited Sri Lanka in 2015, 2017 and 2019.