India, Lanka JWG to meet on Saturday on vexed fishermen issue

A Joint Working Group of India and Sri Lanka will meet here on Saturday to find a solution to the vexed fishermen issue which will be followed by a ministerial- level meeting in Colombo on January 2.
Both India and Sri Lanka are keen to put in place a mechanism soon to resolve the fishermen issue and both sides have been deliberating on it for past several months.
"As per the schedule agreed at the November 5 meeting between India and Sri Lanka on the fishermen issue, the ministerial meeting is to be preceded by a Joint Working Group meeting at Secretary level," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.

He said the JWG will take place here on December 31 and the ministerial meeting will be held in Colombo on January 2.
The JWG was constituted to find a solution to the issue of fishermen of both the countries straying into each other's territorial waters.
There have been several alleged incidents of Sri Lankan Navy personnel firing at Indian fishermen fishing in the Palk Strait and seizing their boats.
The Palk Strait, which is a narrow strip of water separating Tamil Nadu from Sri Lanka, is a rich fishing ground for fishermen from both the countries.
The fishermen associations of India and Sri Lanka had held talks on the issue here last month where the delegation from the island nation rejected demands for relaxation of norms for fishermen from Tamil Nadu to use fishing trawlers.