PM says issue of fishermen will be taken up with Lanka

As Sri Lankan Navy apprehended 118 Indian fishermen, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said India takes a "very serious view" of such incidents and would be taking up the matter with the Sri Lankan government.

Singh said the Sri Lankan government has already been told in strong terms that such a behaviour was not acceptable.

"I have been told that 118 fishermen have been taken into custody. We are taking up this matter with the Sri Lankan Government. We take a very serious view," he said in an interaction with television editors here.

The Prime Minister was responding to a question about the fishermen being apprehended by Sri Lankan authorities yesterday after they allegedly crossed over into their waters.

The arrest comes close on the heels of the killing of two Indian fishermen allegedly by the Sri Lankan Navy.

Singh pointed out that Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao was sent earlier this month to Colombo to "make a strong demarche to the Sri Lankan Government that this sort of behaviour is not acceptable among neighbourly countries."

External Affairs Minister S M Krishna had on February 1 said use of force against Indian fishermen should be part of the history and asked Sri Lanka to take a decision that will not upset the bilateral ties.

A meeting of the Indo-Sri Lanka Joint Working Group on the issue is likely to be held this month to discuss the recent killing of the Indian fishermen threadbare.