The government of India is working on a permanent solution to keep Tamil Nadu fishermen from straying into Sri Lankan waters.

The Ministry of External Affairs has worked with sister ministries on easing deep sea fishing guidelines which have now been made simple for fishermen to understand.

Also, on the anvil is a National Automatic Identification Network whereby small fishing vessels will be fitted with alarms (through transponders) which will go off the moment a fisherman strays into the Sri Lankan waters.

Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj gave this information to the Lok Sabha today while responding to a call attention motion on the issue of abduction and harassment of Tamil Nadu fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy. She said as of now, 38 fishermen with 82 vessels were in Sri Lanka’s custody and efforts were on to secure their release. The Motion was moved by four AIADMK members including P Venugopal and BJP’s Satya Pal Singh.

Swaraj said the Government was in talks with Sri Lanka to arrive at a permanent solution to the fisher men issue. She gave a low down of Government’s efforts in securing the life of fisher men who strayed into Sri Lankan waters describing as “diplomatic victory the full remission of death sentence Sri Lankan President granted to five Indian fishermen recently. These fishermen are back home. Swaraj also appealed to the House to look at the “vast difference in tone and tenor of Sri Lanka towards India since the BJP Government under Narendra Modi assumed charge.

“During the previous government’s rule, it would take 50 to 60 days to release strayed fishermen. Now it takes three to 12 days. There is a huge difference in the way Sri Lanka approaches us now. In one instance, the Sri Lankan Navy not only saved the lives of three Tamil fishermen who had lost their way into Sri Lankan waters, they even fixed the broken fishing vessels, Sushma said.

The Tribune Trust,2014