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India protests death of fisherman whose boat collided with Lankan navy ship
Tensions between the two sides over fishing have grown since a Sri Lankan Navy personnel was killed during an operation to seize an Indian fishing boat in July.
India on Thursday lodged a strong protest with Sri Lanka over a collision between a Lankan naval vessel and an Indian fishing boat that killed a fisherman and left another missing.
The external affairs ministry called in Sri Lanka’s acting high commissioner, Priyanga Wickremesinghe, on Thursday morning to register a protest over the incident, the external affairs ministry said in a statement.
Tensions between the two sides over fishing have grown since a Sri Lankan Navy personnel was killed during an operation to seize an Indian fishing boat in July.
A collision was reported early on Thursday morning between a Sri Lankan naval vessel and an Indian fishing boat at a location five nautical miles north of Katchatheevu island. “Out of the four Indian fishermen who were on board the vessel, one unfortunately lost his life, and another is missing,” the statement said.
Two of the fishermen were rescued and brought ashore to Kankesanthurai. A search is underway for the missing Indian fisherman.
Officials of the Indian consulate in Jaffna were directed to go to Kankesanthurai and extend all possible assistance to the fishermen and their families.
“The Sri Lankan Acting High Commissioner in New Delhi was called in today morning to the Ministry of External Affairs and a strong protest was registered over the incident. We expressed our shock and anguish at the unfortunate loss of life,” the statement said.
India’s high commissioner in Colombo, Santosh Jha, would also raise the matter with the Sri Lankan government later on Thursday, the statement added.
The Indian government has “always emphasised the need to deal with issues pertaining to fishermen in a humane and humanitarian manner”, the statement said.
“Existing understandings between the two governments in that regard must be strictly observed. Utmost efforts should be made to ensure that there is no recurrence or resort to the use of force,” it added.
The Indian government attaches the highest priority to the safety and security of Indian fishermen, and issues related to them have been raised regularly at the highest levels with the Sri Lankan leadership.
Dozens of Indian and Sri Lankan fishermen are arrested by the two countries each year on charges of violating the maritime boundary or illegal fishing.
