Sri Lankan Navy apprehends 17 Indian fishermen, escalating long-standing dispute

On Sunday, September 29, the Sri Lankan Navy apprehended 17 Indian fishermen and seized two trawlers near Mannar for allegedly fishing illegally in Sri Lankan waters. This incident adds to the ongoing tension between Tamil Nadu and the Tamil Eelam homeland, where illegal fishing by Indian fishermen has been a contentious issue for years.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin referred to the situation, urging the Indian government to take diplomatic action. In a letter to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Stalin highlighted the distress caused by the repeated arrests of Indian fishermen and the confiscation of their boats. The 17 fishermen had set out from the Rameswaram fish landing center on September 28 and were apprehended near Neduntheevu the following day.

Stalin emphasized that this issue had caused significant distress among coastal communities and called for urgent and decisive diplomatic measures to secure the immediate release of the detained fishermen and their boats. He further noted that this incident was part of a larger, ongoing problem, with 145 Indian fishermen and 191 boats currently in Sri Lankan custody as of September 23, 2024— the highest numbers seen in the last seven years. Stalin had also included this concern in a memorandum submitted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 27.

The Sri Lankan Navy’s official webiste explained that the arrest was part of a special operation in the northern waters of Mannar. The Navy’s Fast Attack Craft and Inshore Patrol Craft were deployed after spotting a group of Indian fishing vessels engaging in what they described as illegal fishing. The 17 fishermen, along with their boats, were escorted to the Talaimannar Pier, where they were handed over to the Mannar Fisheries Inspector for legal proceedings.

This incident brings the total number of Indian fishermen arrested by Sri Lankan authorities in 2024 to 413, alongside the seizure of 55 Indian fishing boats. The issue of Indian fishermen poaching in Sri Lankan waters has been a major point of contention between Tamil Nadu and the Tamil Eelam homeland, where the local fishing communities have long raised concerns about depleted marine resources due to Indian trawlers.

Despite numerous diplomatic efforts, including calls for intervention from both the Indian and Sri Lankan governments, a lasting solution has yet to be reached. Under the previous Sri Lankan administration, led by Ranil Wickremesinghe, the problem persisted without any significant resolution, further straining relations between the two nations.