India looks forward to early settlement of fishermen row with Lanka

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday said India is looking forward to an early meeting with the Sri Lankan Government to address the fishermen issue and added that this matter would be resolved at the earliest.

"The date has not been finalized. We look forward to early meeting of that particular committee. As we have agreed to resolve the issue once in for all and I am sure the joint working group will be able to take some concrete steps in that regard," MEA official spokesperson Vikas Swarup told the media here.

Swarup also informed that currently there are four Indian fisherman and 130 boats in Sri Lankan custody and zero fisherman and 40 boats in Indian custody.

However, he denied commenting on reports of open fire at the Indian fishermen in Puducherry today and said that the officials in Columbia have been asked to provide reports on it.

As per reports, two Indian fishermen were seriously injured after the Sri Lankan naval personnel opened fire at their fishing boat off the Kodiakarai coast.