Joint group to sort out India-SL fishing issues - Indian Foreign Secy

The India-Sri Lanka Joint Working Group on Fisheries will meet soon to sort out outstanding issues on fishing in the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Bay, Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai said in New Delhi on Monday.

The fishermen's issue was a question of livelihood. "The whole issue has to be studied as a livelihood matter.

The issue has to examined in terms of what is sustainable in the long run," the Hindu reported quoting the Indian Foreign Secretary.

He said that Sri Lankan government had told him that its Navy was not part of the incidents of attack on Indian fishermen.

In Jaffna, the government agent brought to his notice that fishermen in the district were aggrieved over the fact that they were not able to fish in their own waters because of encroachment from the Indian side. "In the narrow area between India and Sri Lanka, the prospects for fishing are finite.

'Both of us need to look at ways in which we can encourage deep sea fishing' he said.

The Indian Foreign Secretary who visited Sri Lanka from October 8-9 held discussions with President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa, Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Leader of the Opposition Ranil Wickremesinghe, representatives of Tamil political parties, and other civil society leaders.

Mathai, who visited Sri Lanka for a familiarisation visit, said that he was "encouraged" by two of the projects that he saw - the Northern Railway project and the rehabilitation of the Kankesanthurai harbour.

"The restoration of rail links will be a strong confidence-building measure for the restoration of normalcy. Kankesanthurai has the potential to become the point to bring in cargo to the entire north, instead of bringing it all the way from Colombo by road," he said.