India, Sri Lanka to set up Joint Working Group to resolve fishermen issue

Monday, 7 November 2016 00:44 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Regional neighbours India and Sri Lanka held ministerial level talks on issues concerning their fishermen on 5 November in New Delhi.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Radha Mohan Singh met with Sri Lankan Foreign Affairs Minister Mangala Samaraweera and Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Minister Mahinda Amaraweera. Minister of State for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Pon Radhakrishnan and Lankan MP M.A. Sumanthiran were part of the two delegations.

The Ministers exchanged views on possible mechanisms to help find a permanent solution to the fishermen’s issues.

They agreed on the setting up a Joint Working Group on Fisheries to meet every three months and holding a meeting between the Ministers for Fisheries every six months. The delegations will include representatives from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and the Coast Guards and Navies of both countries. The first ministerial meeting will be held on 2 January 2017 in Colombo.

The Terms of Reference for the Joint Working Group (JWG) will include expediting the transition towards ending the practice of bottom trawling at the earliest, working out the modalities for the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for handing over apprehended fishermen and ascertaining possibilities for cooperation over patrolling. The issue of the release of detained fishing vessels will be discussed at the first JWG meeting.

Both governments agreed on establishing a hotline between the two Coast Guards.

There was support for expediting the provision of communication tracking sets to the fishermen.

Both governments agreed to the request by the fishermen associations that there should be no violence and no loss of life in the handling of fishermen by the Navies and Coast Guards of the two countries.

They agreed to encourage the fishermen associations of the two countries to meet every six months to take their dialogue further from the meeting held on 2 November in New Delhi.

The Ministers noted that the process was underway for the release of fishermen presently held in custody by both sides.