Joint Working Group of India and SL to meet and solve fishermen issue

The Indian Coast Guard has arrested Sri Lankan fishermen

With an aim to find a solution to the vexed issue of fishermen, a Joint Working Group (JWG) of India and Sri Lanka will hold a meeting on Saturday. Following the JWG meeting, a ministerial-level meeting between the two nations is scheduled in Colombo on January 2.

“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,” Indian External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.

For the last several months, both India and Sri Lanka have been taking measures to put in place a mechanism soon to resolve the fishermen issue.

Swarup maintained that the JWG, which was constituted to find a solution to the issue of fishermen of both the countries straying into each other’s territorial waters, will take place here on December 31 and the ministerial meeting will be held in Colombo on January 2.

(NIE)