External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday informed in the Rajya Sabha that a total of 97 Indian fishermen are in Sri Lankan custody. He blamed the decisions taken in 1970s for the current crisis that’s unfolding.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday informed the Rajya Sabha that a total of 97 Indian fishermen are currently in Sri Lanka’s custody. Of the total 97, 83 are serving sentences, three awaiting trial, and 11 were apprehended. Jaishankar, who was replying to supplementaries during question hour, asserted that India is trying to engage with Sri Lanka to take a humanitarian approach to the issue. Notably, the Centre is trying to find long-term ways, which include installing transponders on fishing boats so that the situation does not keep recurring.
Jaishankar blames decision taken in 1974 for current crisis
Jaishankar blamed the decisions taken in 1974 and 1976 as the root cause of the situation the country is facing today. The minister underscored that the problem began in 1974 when the international maritime boundary was drawn by the then Union government in consultation with the state government.
“Right now the situation is that till yesterday there were 86 Indian fishermen in Sri Lankan custody. Today, one more trawler has been apprehended, and so have 11 more fishermen. All together, 97 of them are in custody. Eighty-three are serving sentences, three are awaiting trial and 11 have been apprehended today,” he informed the Upper House.
The External Affairs Minister said that those who are serving sentences are either owners of boats or are repeat offenders, which complicates the issue, making it difficult to tackle the situation.
“So our efforts are on diplomatically releasing people, in terms of our colleagues from the department of fisheries, to fit the transponders so that there are no inadvertent crossings, and meanwhile we are trying to see if we can give them alternate solutions so that this situation does not occur,” he noted.
How does India plan to ensure fishermen safety? Here’s Jaishankar’s reply
Asked about long-term plans of the government for ensuring the safety of fishermen, the minister said the long-term plan rests on two initiatives – one is the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojna.
“It has an allocation of Rs 20,050 crore, and the purpose of it is to fit boats with transponders so that you don’t have this kind of inadvertent crossing, acquisition of boats, nets and training, to look at supporting deep-sea fishing vessels and giving them equipment and giving them alternatives,” the minister said.
He said a total of 147 fishermen have been apprehended in 2025 by Sri Lanka, of which 135 are from Tamil Nadu and 10 from Puducherry.
(With PTI inputs)
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