India on Wednesday acknowledged that bottom-trawling by its fishermen posed a challenge to sustainable fishing in the waters around Sri Lanka. Reviewing bilateral ties with Colombo on the eve of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Sri Lanka, a senior official of the Ministry of External Affairs said the government had created a major fund to train Indian fishermen in alternative fishing techniques. There is a package that the Indian government is putting together and an equal amount will be put in by the Tamil Nadu government, which will be around Rs. 1,500 crore. During this period, fishermen will be trained in deep-sea fishing and capacity building, Mr. Sanjay Panda, Joint Secretary of the Indian Ocean Region in the Ministry of External Affairs, said. Mr. Panda added that apart from the special fund, several other initiatives were being planned to stop bottom-trawling near the Sri Lankan waters. However, he urged all stakeholders not to expect an overnight solution. We do not deny the problem. Our efforts are to wean our fishermen away from bottom-trawling and assist them in going for deep-sea fishing, said Mr. Panda. Bottom trawling has been a major concern of Sri Lankan government which has accused Indian fishermen of depleting marine resources around Sri Lanka by resorting to bottom trawling. Mr Panda said that the new measures that would help in reducing bottom trawling are soon to be implemented. Sri Lanka has in recent months protested more vigorously against bottom trawling by Indian fishermen. During a visit to India, leader of the opposition of the Sri Lankan parliament, R. Sampanthan also highlighted the plight caused to Sri Lankan fishermen because of bottom trawling by Indian mechanised boats.